Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

SlickEdit VS Spacemacs

Compare SlickEdit VS Spacemacs and see what are their differences

SlickEdit logo SlickEdit

SlickEdit is a cross-platform, multi-language source code editor text editor that allows programmers to developer in over 40 languages on seven platforms.

Spacemacs logo Spacemacs

Community-driven Emacs distribution that meshes Emacs and Vim features.
  • SlickEdit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-06-14
  • Spacemacs Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-04-26

SlickEdit features and specs

  • Versatility
    SlickEdit supports over 70 programming languages, making it an extremely versatile editor for multi-language development environments.
  • Customization
    It offers extensive customization options, including customizable key bindings, menus, toolbars, and a powerful macro language for automation.
  • Speed
    The editor is optimized for speed and performance, even when working with large files and complex projects.
  • Code Navigation
    Enhanced code browsing features, such as symbol referencing, syntax expansion, and context tagging, make navigating and reviewing code more efficient.
  • Debugging Support
    It includes robust debugging features like integrated debuggers for various languages, which streamline the debugging process.
  • Cross-Platform
    SlickEdit is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing developers to maintain a consistent workflow across different operating systems.
  • Integrated Version Control
    Supports version control systems like Git, Subversion, and Mercurial, providing seamless integration for code management.

Possible disadvantages of SlickEdit

  • Cost
    Unlike many other text editors and IDEs, SlickEdit is a paid product, which could be a barrier for independent developers and small teams.
  • Complexity
    Its extensive feature set can be overwhelming for new users, requiring a steep learning curve to fully utilize its capabilities.
  • User Interface
    Some users find the user interface to be less modern and intuitive compared to other contemporary editors and IDEs.
  • Limited Plugins
    Compared to other popular editors like VS Code or IntelliJ IDEA, SlickEdit has a limited ecosystem of third-party plugins and extensions.
  • Resource Intensive
    Despite being known for performance, some users report that it can be resource-intensive, particularly when loading large projects.

Spacemacs features and specs

  • Customizability
    Spacemacs is highly customizable, leveraging the power of Emacs and Vim. Users can tailor their development environment to exactly fit their workflow.
  • Community-driven
    Spacemacs benefits from a strong, active community. Users have access to a wealth of shared configurations, extensions, and advice.
  • Hybrid Model
    Combines the best features of Emacs and Vim, allowing users to switch easily between editing styles and take advantage of both systems’ strengths.
  • Ease of Setup
    Spacemacs provides an easy-to-use distribution of Emacs, simplifying the initial setup process and making it more accessible for newcomers.
  • Rich Documentation
    Spacemacs comes with extensive documentation, both official and user-generated, which makes it easier to learn and troubleshoot issues.

Possible disadvantages of Spacemacs

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Despite simplifying Emacs, Spacemacs can still be daunting for beginners, requiring time and effort to master.
  • Performance
    Spacemacs can be slow to start up and may lag with heavy configurations or large files, impacting overall performance.
  • Complexity
    The combination of Emacs and Vim features can add layers of complexity, potentially overwhelming users who may prefer a more straightforward tool.
  • Dependency on Emacs
    Users are still reliant on Emacs and its ecosystem, which might be a downside for those looking to avoid the intricacies of Emacs altogether.
  • Resource Intensive
    Compared to other editors, Spacemacs can be more resource-intensive, consuming more memory and CPU power.

Analysis of SlickEdit

Overall verdict

  • SlickEdit is a powerful and highly versatile code editor, particularly favored by developers who require extensive customization and advanced features. Its steep learning curve and premium pricing might be a drawback for some, but for those who need its specialized capabilities, it's often deemed worth the investment.

Why this product is good

  • SlickEdit is recognized for its robust features tailored for professional developers. It offers extensive language support, powerful debugging tools, customizable workspaces, and efficient code navigation. The editor is designed to handle large codebases with ease and provides advanced editing capabilities like macro scripting and version control integration.

Recommended for

    SlickEdit is ideal for professional developers and software engineers who work on complex projects and large codebases. It's particularly beneficial for those who need support for multiple languages, advanced debugging tools, and customizable environments. It's also suitable for developers who value speed and efficiency in their editing workflow.

Analysis of Spacemacs

Overall verdict

  • Spacemacs is considered a strong editor choice for those comfortable with both Emacs and Vim. It excels particularly for users who appreciate the extensive possibilities for customization and the efficiency of a mnemonic keybinding system. However, mastering Spacemacs can require an initial learning curve.

Why this product is good

  • Spacemacs combines the extensibility and customization of Emacs with the efficiency and ergonomics of Vim, making it appealing to users from both editor families. It offers a rich set of features out of the box and has a large community contributing to its continual improvement. The unique spacemacs configuration layer system simplifies the customization of Emacs, which can traditionally be complex.<br>Most notably, Spacemacs provides a robust and versatile platform for developers who work with multiple programming languages and requires tools that can handle various aspects of software development in a fluid manner.

Recommended for

  • Developers with prior experience in Emacs or Vim.
  • Users who are interested in a highly customizable and extendable editor.
  • Programmers looking for an editor that supports multiple languages and dev tools in one platform.
  • People interested in the power of both Vim's modal editing and Emacs' feature-rich ecosystem.

SlickEdit videos

SlickEdit - Why Should I Use SlickEdit?

More videos:

  • Review - SlickEdit - Emulations
  • Tutorial - SlickEdit - How to Orgainze the Projects Tool Window - Directory View
  • Tutorial - SlickEdit - How to Use the Class Browser

Spacemacs videos

Spacemacs For Noobs

More videos:

  • Review - Can VSCode be a reasonable Spacemacs alternative? (VSpaceCode)
  • Review - EmacsCast 4 - Spacemacs vs Doom vs Emacs

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SlickEdit and Spacemacs)
Text Editors
39 39%
61% 61
IDE
46 46%
54% 54
Productivity
44 44%
56% 56
Programming
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SlickEdit and Spacemacs

SlickEdit Reviews

Top 10 Notepad++ Alternatives for Mac in 2022
Here we have discussed more Notedpad++ Mac alternatives. We discussed that it is actually not available on Mac. However, we have discussed different alternatives you can choose with your computer. These include Atom, Sunset Code, Brackets, BBEdit, SlickEdit, Komodo IDE, Coderunner, and Coda, among others. All of these have their own limitations, capabilities, and features,...
Source: www.imymac.com

Spacemacs Reviews

Top 8 Sublime Text Alternatives You Can Use in 2019
Spacemacs uses the space bar as a default leader key, which is where the program gets its name from. The syntax highlighting feature on Spacemacs is enabled by default for all major programming languages, and it is configurable manually through configuration files as well as via internal commands. For all its positives, the program can be quite a bit glitchy at times. From...
Source: beebom.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Spacemacs seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 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.

SlickEdit mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of SlickEdit yet. Tracking of SlickEdit recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Spacemacs mentions (6)

  • Our teacher only allows us to use VIM
    Show them spacemacs.org, github.com/doomemacs/doomemacs or at least spacevim.org. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Creating Haskell notebooks with org-mode
    Your Emacs will need some packages: org, org-babel and haskell-mode. If you use spacemacs it is enough to add these layers in your .spacemacs:. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Vim Users! Share your Clever Configs and Plugin Setups (or learn something new)🔥
    Try https://spacemacs.org magit + org-mode are the big selling points. Magit especially for programming. Source: almost 4 years ago
  • Emacs' org-mode gets citation support
    Aside from editing on mobile devices, I think Emacs isn't as hard to pick up as it once was. It's certainly not easy but tools like Spacemacs or Doom make it much simpler to get started and really limit the need to create and edit a complicated little library of your Elisp code. http://spacemacs.org https://github.com/hlissner/doom-emacs. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
  • A guide to create tmux like Custom Layouts in Spacemacs
    Coming from a vim world with tmux, I had really missed the multiple split window layout in Spacemacs. But after knowing how to define custom layouts this seemed to be an easy exercise for me. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SlickEdit and Spacemacs, you can also consider the following products

VS Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

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

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

Light Table - Light Table is a new interactive IDE that lets you modify running programs and embed anything from...