Software Alternatives & Startups

MacVim VS pathogen.vim

Compare MacVim VS pathogen.vim and see what are their differences

MacVim

MacVim is a port of the text editor Vim to Mac OS X.

Rating
0 reviews
pathogen.vim

pathogen.vim: manage your runtimepath. Contribute to tpope/vim-pathogen development by creating an account on GitHub.

Rating
0 reviews

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, pathogen.vim should be more popular than MacVim. It has been mentioned 6 times since March 2021.

social mentions
3 vs 6
Text Editors popularity
61% vs 39%
alternatives listed
44 vs 12

Base details

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

MacVim
pathogen.vim
Website github.com github.com
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

MacVim 5 features
pathogen.vim 4 features
  • Familiar Vim Interface
    MacVim provides the same powerful and familiar editing interface as Vim, making it a great choice for users who are already accustomed to Vim's keybindings and commands.
  • Native macOS Integration
    MacVim is specifically designed for macOS, offering better system integration, including support for native macOS features like full-screen mode, a menu bar, and better keyboard shortcut customization.
  • GUI Enhancements
    While retaining Vim's command-line capabilities, MacVim offers a graphical user interface (GUI) which makes it more accessible to users who prefer a more visual interaction with their text editor.
  • Plugin Support
    MacVim supports Vim's extensive plugin system, allowing users to customize and extend its functionality with thousands of available plugins.
  • Active Development
    Being open-source and maintained by a community of developers means MacVim benefits from regular updates, bug fixes, and new features.

Possible disadvantages

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Like Vim, MacVim can be challenging for beginners due to its unique mode-based editing paradigm and the need to remember extensive keybindings.
  • Resource Intensive
    Though optimized for macOS, MacVim with a GUI can be more resource-intensive compared to traditional Vim, which may be a concern for those with older or less powerful machines.
  • Not for Non-Vim Users
    For users unfamiliar with Vim, MacVim can be intimidating and less intuitive compared to other modern text editors or IDEs.
  • Occasional macOS-Specific Bugs
    Being a macOS-specific application, some users encounter macOS-related bugs or compatibility issues that might not be present in the original Vim.
  • Requires Additional Configuration
    To fully leverage MacVim's capabilities, users often need to spend time configuring their environment, including installing and setting up plugins.
  • Ease of Use
    Pathogen.vim simplifies the management of Vim plugins by allowing users to easily install, update, and remove plugins without altering Vim's core files. It requires minimal configuration.
  • Directory Structure
    It promotes a cleaner directory structure where each plugin resides in its own directory under .vim/bundle, making it easier to locate and manage individual plugins.
  • Compatibility
    Being widely adopted and time-tested, pathogen.vim is compatible with a wide range of plugins. This ensures that users can confidently use popular Vim plugins alongside it.
  • No Impact on Startup Time
    Pathogen.vim is lightweight, which means it doesn't significantly affect Vim's startup time, preserving Vim's reputation for speed and efficiency.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Features
    Compared to modern plugin managers like vim-plug or Vundle, pathogen.vim offers limited features, lacking built-in update mechanisms for plugins or other advanced functionalities.
  • Manual Management of Dependencies
    Pathogen.vim requires users to manually manage plugin dependencies and updates, which can become cumbersome when dealing with a large number of plugins.
  • Exclusivity of Git for Installation
    Pathogen.vim relies heavily on Git for plugin installation, which might be a limitation for users who prefer or require alternative installation methods.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

MacVim 2 videos + Add
pathogen.vim 0 videos + Add

Why is MacVim much faster than Vim in the Terminal?

More videos

  • - MacVim | Astros a Star | Ep. 5

No pathogen.vim videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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
MacVim
pathogen.vim
61% 61%
39% 39%
39% 39%
61% 61%
66% 66%
IDE
34% 34%
43% 43%
57% 57%

User comments

Share your experience with using MacVim and pathogen.vim. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

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Social recommendations and mentions

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

MacVim 3 mentions
pathogen.vim 6 mentions
  • Notepad Next
    gVim (only on windows/linux) with a minimal config is my preferred. Fast but a few powerful built-in vim features like search, replace, syntax highlighting, spellchecking, auto-indent etc. It loads in about 1.5s on my machine and renders... - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago
  • Vim: The Best Way to Write Code?
    Vim (aka Vi IMproved) is a highly efficient text editor that has inspired other editors like it, most notably MacVim (which I will refer to as vim from here on) and gVim. - Source: dev.to / over 5 years ago
  • Vim 9 - Update
    If you want to try out Vim9, you can download the latest Win32 binaries from: https://github.com/vim/vim-win32-installer/releases. For MacOS, you can use https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim/. Source: over 5 years ago
  • Any Suggestions Apart from vscode for Terraform ?
    The person who mentored me the most when I was getting started with Terraform used VIM with pathogen but honestly this isn't a great idea unless you're really invested in a VIM workflow. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Vim or Emacs?
    I am a bit confused. What has this anything to do with your original question? vim-pathogen is for Vim editor itself, not for PyCharm. I don't know much about MacOS, so not sure how to help. Did you try the installation steps at... Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Usage of 'after/ftplugin' directory for filetype-specific configuration
    Back in the old(ish) days of Vim, usage of tpope/vim-pathogen to manipulate runtimepath was a popular way to install plugins. As it got update 9 days ago, it might be still used by some. Source: about 4 years ago

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