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Zed Editor

🤔 Background: Why I Chose Zed Editor

In a previous blog post about NeoVim-start, I tried using NeoVim as my primary editor. However, configuring NeoVim plugins proved challenging, especially the AI coding plugins. When working with multiple files, NeoVim became cumbersome to use. My goal was to embrace full keyboard-driven coding, which has been an eye-opening journey that introduced me to alternative coding workflows.

For a long time, I've used VSCode as my main editor because it's lightweight and offers more flexibility compared to JetBrains IDEs. GitHub's Copilot has been an excellent AI coding assistant in VSCode, performing well even with complex coding tasks on Snoot 3.7. However, VSCode isn't optimized for a fully keyboard-driven workflow as it often requires using the mouse to navigate menus. For instance, when chatting with the AI panel, which typically returns lengthy responses, there's no keyboard shortcut to scroll through the panel, forcing me to reach for the mouse.

Another issue is the inability to generate commit messages on remote machines. Since the VSCode-Copilot plugin isn't open source, users can't fix these issues themselves. Interestingly, this issue also appears in Zed Editor, but since Zed is open source, I can potentially fix the issue myself and submit a pull request.

In conclusion, I wanted an editor that is open source, supports AI coding, enables full keyboard navigation, and provides consistent operation across different environments.

🚀 Introducing Zed Editor

"Welcome to Zed, a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter." The Zed repository states. What sets Zed apart is its foundation in the Rust ecosystem and its use of GPU APIs for rendering, resulting in exceptional speed and smoothness.

🎨 Features

  • AI Coding: Zed Editor offers robust AI coding capabilities
    • Connect your GitHub Copilot account to access the NEWEST module
    • Custom commands to reference files, symbols, URLs, and more
    • Send diff hunks directly to AI to generate code without manual copying
    • NOTE: RAG functionality is not yet integrated, so @workspace or @Codebase commands are not currently available. These features are planned for future releases.
  • Fully Keyboard-Driven: Zed is designed for complete keyboard control with VIM mode, eliminating the need for mouse interaction. All panels follow consistent operational logic, similar to Vim's "Everything is a Buffer" philosophy.

📦 Conclusion

Zed Editor launched in 2023, making it just two years old, with a rapid weekly release cycle. Contributing to Zed offers quick feedback from the community. It's an excellent choice for developers who prioritize AI coding assistance and keyboard-driven workflows, perfectly matching my editor requirements. This also presents a valuable opportunity to participate in an active open source community.