How many developers are using VSCode? How does that number compare with Emacs/Vim?

In many ways, GUI was developed as the natural evolution of TUI. X server, with its client-server architecture, is meant to allow you to interact with remote sessions via "casted" GUI rather than a terminal.

Countless engineers spent many man-hours to develop theories and frameworks for creating GUI for a reason.

TUI just got the nostalgia "coolness".

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coldtea 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

>How many developers are using VSCode? How does that number compare with Emacs/Vim?

How many people eat microwave meals? How many eat gourmet Michelin star dishes?

I don't care "how many use VSCode". My argument Emacs/Vim have great, well loved TUIs. And they are used by a huge number of the most respected coders in the industry. Whether a million React jockeys use VSCode doesn't negate this.

>Countless engineers spent many man-hours to develop theories and frameworks for creating GUI for a reason.

Yes, it sells to the masses. Countless food industry scientists aspend many man-hours to develop detrimental ultra-processed crap for a reason too.

	▲	9dev an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		The analogy mostly makes a point for snobbishness, but otherwise doesn’t really work. Most people would rather eat meals prepped by a Michelin star cook, but they can only afford microwave meals - whereas EMacs/Vim and VSCode are equally accessible to anyone.
	▲	troupo an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> My argument Emacs/Vim have great, well loved TUIs. They... are not great. They provide the absolute bare minimum of an UI. An UI, even a terminal one, is more than a couple of boxes with text in them. Unfortunately, actual great TUIs more or less died in the 1990s. You can google Turbo Vision for examples.

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jazzyb 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> How many developers are using VSCode? How does that number compare with Emacs/Vim?

Perhaps I'm in some sort of "TUI bubble", but I'd bet good money that Emacs/Vim users outnumber VSCode users by an order of magnitude. But maybe I'm just surrounded by *nix devs.

	▲	9dev an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		No need to guess, the SO survey is probably still representative of the state of development environments: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/technology#1-dev-id-es Note that respondents may use multiple tools, but around 76% answered VSCode, whereas 24% answered Vim. So, I’d wager you’re indeed in a *nix bubble.
	▲	chrisweekly 6 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		I'll take that bet
	▲	troupo an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> but I'd bet good money that Emacs/Vim users outnumber VSCode users by an order of magnitude No, no they don't. Enterprise and gaming alone would easily invalidate your bet.

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Brian_K_White 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Buddy, I am here to inform you that you are projecting.