Software Alternatives & Startups

GNU Emacs VS Eclipse

Compare GNU Emacs VS Eclipse and see what are their differences

GNU Emacs

GNU Emacs is an extensible, customizable text editor—and more.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Eclipse

Eclipse is an open source community, whose projects are focused on building an open development platform comprised of extensible frameworks, tools and runtimes for building, deploying and managing software across the lifecycle.

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Eclipse should be more popular than GNU Emacs. It has been mentioned 9 times since March 2021.

social mentions
6 vs 9
Text Editors popularity
43% vs 57%

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

GNU Emacs
Eclipse
Website gnu.org eclipse.org
Pricing
Open source
—
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

GNU Emacs 5 features
Eclipse 5 features
  • Highly Extensible
    GNU Emacs is highly customizable, allowing users to configure nearly every aspect using Emacs Lisp. This makes it remarkably adaptable for various workflows.
  • Rich Plugin Ecosystem
    There is a wide array of plugins available for Emacs, extending its functionality for programming, text editing, project management, and more.
  • Versatile
    Aside from text editing, Emacs can function as an email client, web browser, terminal emulator, and more, making it a powerful multi-purpose tool.
  • Free and Open Source
    GNU Emacs is free to use and modify, with source code available under the GNU General Public License, encouraging collaborative improvement and transparency.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Emacs runs on many different operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and various Unix-like systems, ensuring a wide reach and consistent experience across platforms.

Possible disadvantages

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its vast array of features and unique keybindings, new users often find Emacs difficult to learn initially.
  • Performance
    Emacs can be slower compared to more lightweight text editors, especially when heavily customized or handling large files.
  • Keyboard-Centric Interface
    Emacs relies heavily on keyboard shortcuts, which can be overwhelming and complex, leading to potential finger strain from extensive use.
  • Complex Configuration
    While its customizability is a strength, configuring Emacs to fit personal needs can be time-consuming and complex, requiring knowledge of Emacs Lisp.
  • Rich Plugin Ecosystem
    Eclipse has a large variety of plugins available, which allow for the customization and extension of its functionality. This makes it suitable for different types of development, including Java, C++, and Python.
  • Open Source
    Eclipse is free and open-source, allowing developers to contribute to and modify the codebase. This encourages community engagement and continuous improvement.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Eclipse runs on various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, which provides flexibility for developers working in different environments.
  • Mature and Stable
    Eclipse has been around for a long time and has a large community of users, making it a mature and stable IDE.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Eclipse offers comprehensive documentation and user guides, which are helpful for both beginners and advanced developers.

Possible disadvantages

  • Performance Issues
    Eclipse can be slow, particularly when dealing with large projects or numerous plugins. This can be frustrating and time-consuming for developers.
  • Complexity
    The extensive range of features and plugins can make Eclipse overwhelming and difficult to navigate for new users.
  • Heavy Resource Utilization
    Eclipse is known to consume a significant amount of system resources, which can affect the performance of other applications.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive capabilities and complexity, Eclipse may have a steeper learning curve compared to simpler IDEs.
  • Occasional Stability Issues
    While generally stable, Eclipse can sometimes be prone to crashes or bugs, particularly when using third-party plugins that are not well-maintained.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

GNU Emacs
Eclipse

Overall verdict

  • GNU Emacs is widely considered to be a powerful and versatile text editor, especially among programmers and developers.

Why this product is good

  • Highly Customizable: Emacs can be extensively customized with Emacs Lisp, enabling users to tailor the editor to fit their specific workflow.
  • Rich Ecosystem: There is a large variety of plug-ins and extensions available, which can transform it into much more than just a text editor.
  • Built-in Tools: Emacs includes numerous built-in tools such as a debugger, calendar, email client, and file manager, making it a comprehensive development environment.
  • Cross-Platform: Emacs runs on multiple platforms, which makes it accessible to a broad audience.

Recommended for

  • Programmers and developers who appreciate a customizable and extensible tool.
  • Users who want to integrate various development tools into a single environment.
  • Individuals comfortable with learning Emacs Lisp to create and understand custom scripts and configurations.
  • People interested in a text editor that has a strong and supportive community.

No analysis of Eclipse yet.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

GNU Emacs 1 video + Add
Eclipse 3 videos + Add

Switching to GNU Emacs

Review: 2008 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT V6 (Manual)

More videos

  • - 2009 Mitsubishi Eclipse Review - No Show No Go
  • - MotorWeek | Retro Review: '95 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
GNU Emacs
Eclipse
43% 43%
57% 57%
39% 39%
IDE
61% 61%
100% 100%
0% 0%
23% 23%
77% 77%

User comments

Share your experience with using GNU Emacs and Eclipse. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

GNU Emacs no reviews yet
Eclipse no reviews yet
  • 14 BEST LaTeX Editor for Mac & Windows in 2022
    www.guru99.com · Sep 2022

    Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It is one of the best LaTeX editor for Mac that allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words,...

  • The Top 7 Notepad++ Alternatives for You
    www.technize.com · Nov 2020

    Emacs has been around in its various forms since 1976 and is another very worthy Notepad++ alternative. When I first started using Emacs I have to admit that I didn’t find it the easiest to use. But once I got used to...

  • 10 Best Notepad++ Alternatives in 2020
    www.guru99.com · Nov 2020

    Emacs is a Unix based text editor tool which is used by programmers, engineers, students, and system administrators. It allows you to add, modify, delete, insert, words, letters, lines, and other units of text.

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Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

GNU Emacs 6 mentions
Eclipse 9 mentions
  • Emacs daemon as sytemd service in debian 12 (gnome)
    Cat .config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/emacs.service [Unit] Description=Emacs text editor Documentation=info:emacs man:emacs(1) https://gnu.org/software/emacs/ [Service] Type=notify ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/emacs --fg-daemon #... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Why does emacs exec path variable not just copy the users path variable?
    ## If your Emacs is installed in a non-standard location, you may need ## to copy this file to a standard directory, eg ~/.config/systemd/user/ . ## If you install this file by hand, change the "Exec" lines below ## to use absolute file... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Hi DM's, what medium do you use to organise your campaign?
    For gathering notes, writing and organizing, Org-Roam which implies Org and Emacs. Source: about 4 years ago

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  • Microsoft: An Open-Source Comedy
    💡 You can still install extensions on vscodium using Open VSX Registry, which is an opensource project by Eclipse Foundation. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Decryption and incomplete certificate chains
    For example I can access eclipse.org in chrome without issue. I'm seeing my PA cert when I check it's trusted. However when I run the eclipse installer it fails which I suspect is because of the decryption. I'm seeing this log in the... Source: over 3 years ago
  • The eclipse/Java struggle is real...Please help
    I think u/rayok's post is probably going to be your most relevant lead. Maybe it's a JRE related thing. I'd go ahead and reinstall eclipse from the eclipse.org download page rather than your OS app store. Maybe the JRE didnt get... Source: over 3 years ago

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Alternatives to GNU Emacs and Eclipse

When comparing GNU Emacs and Eclipse, you can also consider the following products.