Kakoune VS Spacevim

Kakoune

Vim inspiredâââFaster as in less keystrokesâââMultiple selectionsâââOrthogonal design

Spacevim

SpaceVim is a distribution of the Vim editor that’s inspired by Spacemacs.

Landing page //
2023-10-13

Landing page //
2023-04-11

Kakoune features and specs

Modal Editing
Kakoune uses a modal editing style similar to Vim, which can be more efficient for experienced users who prefer to keep their hands on the keyboard.
Interactive and Asynchronous
Kakoune is designed to be both interactive and asynchronous, providing immediate feedback for commands which can enhance the editing experience.
Selections
Kakoune treats text editing as a multiple selections-oriented operation, enabling powerful, simultaneous edits across multiple text locations, which can speed up complex text manipulations.
Simplicity in Configuration
Kakoune’s configuration files are written in a simple, declarative syntax, making it easier for users to customize their setup without extensive scripting.
Performance
Kakoune is designed with performance in mind, resulting in a lightweight and fast editor even with large files.
Extensible Plugin System
Kakoune supports various plugins and has a community-driven set of extensions, allowing users to extend functionality as needed.
Language Support
Built-in support for syntax highlighting and other language-specific features for many programming languages.

Possible disadvantages of Kakoune

Learning Curve
Kakoune has a steep learning curve, especially for users not familiar with modal editing or coming from different types of text editors.
Plugin Ecosystem
While Kakoune has an extensible plugin system, its plugin ecosystem is not as mature or extensive as more established editors like Vim or Emacs.
Limited GUI Support
Kakoune primarily operates in the terminal, with limited graphical user interface support, which might be a drawback for users who prefer more visual editing environments.
Smaller User Base
Kakoune has a smaller user base compared to more mainstream editors, potentially resulting in fewer community resources, tutorials, and third-party tool integrations.
Reliance on Command Line
Heavy reliance on command-line operations can be intimidating or cumbersome for users who are not comfortable with the terminal.
Limited IDE Features
Kakoune lacks some of the advanced integrated development environment (IDE) features out-of-the-box, such as integrated debugging or project management tools.

Spacevim features and specs

Pre-configured
SpaceVim provides a pre-configured setup which makes it easier for users to get started with minimal setup time compared to vanilla Vim.
Customizability
It offers high customizability enabling users to tailor the editor to their specific needs with easily configurable layers and plugins.
Community-driven
Developed and improved upon by a large community, providing good support and documentation, as well as numerous plugins and features based on user feedback.
Layer System
SpaceVim employs a layer system that allows for modular and organized configuration, simplifying the process of adding or removing features.
Multi-language support
Supports different programming languages, offering features like enhanced syntax highlighting, autocompletion, and language-specific tools.

Possible disadvantages of Spacevim

Learning Curve
Despite being easier to set up than Vim, SpaceVim still has a steep learning curve, especially for users unfamiliar with Vim's modal editing.
Performance
SpaceVim can be slower than a bare Vim setup due to its additional features and plugins which can affect startup times and overall performance.
Complex Configuration
While it offers great customizability, configuring SpaceVim can become complex and overbearing, especially for users needing fine-tuned custom setups.
Dependency Overhead
Relies on several external plugins and dependencies, which might complicate the setup and management process, particularly in environments without access to package managers.
Incompatibility with Some Plugins
Certain Vim plugins and scripts may not be compatible with SpaceVim or require additional configuration to work correctly.

Kakoune videos

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Kakoune Is A More Efficient Text Editor

Spacevim videos

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SpeceVim First Impressions

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Kakoune and Spacevim)

Spacevim

Text Editors

57 57%

Text Editors

43% 43

IDE

52 52%

IDE

48% 48

Productivity

100 100%

Productivity

0% 0

Software Development

42 42%

Software Development

58% 58

User comments

Share your experience with using Kakoune and Spacevim. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Spacevim should be more popular than Kakoune. It has been mentiond 39 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Kakoune mentions (10)

Show HN: Ki Editor
Fascinating idea! To summarize for those who know [Kakoune](https://github.com/mawww/kakoune), the idea is that every command has the form ["selection mode" -> "movement" -> "action"](https://ki-editor.github.io/ki-editor/comparisons/modal-editors.html) instead of Kakoune's movement->action. So, instead of having separate commands for "next character", "next word", "next structural element", there is one command... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
Helix: Release 24.03 Highlights
Helix's modal editing is based on Kakoune's modal editing which is like an evolution to Vim's modal editing. You can think of it as being always in selection (visual) mode. https://github.com/mawww/kakoune?tab=readme-ov-file#selectio.... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
I don't need your query language
You might like kakoune (https://github.com/mawww/kakoune), which does exactly that: first you select the range (which can even be disjoint, e.g. All words matching a regex), then you operate on it. By default, the selected range is the character under cursor, and multiple cursors work out of the box. It also generally follows the Unix philosophy, e.g. By using shell... - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
I use nano BTW.
It might be worth checking out kakoune if you are experimenting with editors. It’s supposed to be equally powerful to vim but much easier to learn. Source: over 2 years ago
Mle is a small, flexible, terminal-based text editor written in C
For that, try Kakoune[1], which is modal with a mostly-postfix language instead of vi's usually-prefix one and uses this to also be a multiple-selections editor with immediate visual feedback. It falls too much into the uncanny valley of almost-but-not-quite-vi for some people, though. [1] https://kakoune.org/, https://github.com/mawww/kakoune. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

Spacevim mentions (39)

How to start using Vim
SpaceVim is a ready—to—use configuration that also provides an interface for configuring the editor and installing plugins. A similar project, Spacemacs, exists on the Internet, which they were inspired by. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
Micro – A Modern Alternative to Nano
I don't know how much you actually care, and I'm the nano OP of this comment chain/thread but there are some vims (and emacs) with plugins and what not built in. Only one I can think of off the top of my head is https://spacevim.org/ but theres a bunch. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
Is it possible to use VIM as an ide?
On the vim side, you can try https://spacevim.org. Source: about 2 years ago
Devil Mode for Emacs
There's also spacevim: https://spacevim.org/ And to a certain extent the new Helix editor which uses space and context sensitive popup menues for discoverability to great effect IMNHO: https://helix-editor.com/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
colorscheme won't apply
Hi, I'm new to using vim I followed the instruction from spacevim.org but this won't work.. Source: about 2 years ago