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diff --git a/src/content/posts/jetbrains.md b/src/content/posts/jetbrains.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..70ad6ba --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/posts/jetbrains.md @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +--- +title: "No More Jetbrains Products for Me" +date: "2026-05-18" +tags: ["tech"] +--- + +After seeing that Zed [recently released](https://zed.dev/blog/zed-1-0) v1 of their editor, I figured +that now was a good of a time as any to give it a try. And while there are some quirks on Linux (specifically +a flickering bug on Wayland that was recently fixed), I feel comfortable running it everyday on my main +machine. The defaults are mostly sane, the editor is fast and responsive, and the compatibility +with much of Visual Studio Code's environment is great. Even the AI integration is tasteful and not +terribly in my way. Zed will be my primary editor going forward. + +And this feels somewhat like a breakup. For a long time, I've been paying JetBrains ~$85 a year for their IDE. +I've been using CLion for all of my day-to-day work for years now. The unfortunate part is that +I want to love these products. I find the UI easy to understand. I find their defaults to be sane. The tooling allows +me to debug my problems with fantastic insight. All of the core ideas of JetBrains products are solid and +well executed. For this reason, I really want to love them. I want to use CLion every day and I want +to use it everyday into the future. + +But there is one teeny tiny problem: **the tool is so fricken slow**. + +It is so remarkably slow, and I cannot begin to understand these people that are telling me that it runs fast. +Granted, I tend to run older hardware, but it seems that *most* other programs on my machine run +fast and happy, yet CLion finds a way to stutter and eat my CPU/RAM every step of the way while also making +simple editing tasks feel sluggish. + +Here is a tiny list of some the frustrations that I've encountered: + +- I cannot instantly create a new file. I have to go through some "Create File" popup that *literally* has + a loading screen associated with it. Why do I have to **load** to create a new file? The slow down does not + happen all of the time, but enough that I hesitate when wanting to create a new file. +- The startup times are just abysmal. It makes me not want to open my editor, which makes me hesitate to start doing + work. If I have to sit their and stare at a splash screen at all, then I think something is wrong. +- Switching projects has abysmal performance as well. +- Remote Development has some weird quirks where - especially on slow machines - I will get disconnected abruptly. +- I cannot for the life of me understand why it keeps re-indexing my codebase in certain circumstances. Perhaps + this is some on-again off-again bug, but it comes back to bite me constantly. +- The install is gigantic on disk, leading me to avoid it on my older machines where space is limited. + +When all of these tiny issues come together, it makes me **NOT** want to program. I don't want to sit around and +wait for startup times to get my ideas onto the screen. I don't want to worry that my CPU or RAM is going to be exhaused +and I am going to have to restart my machine. I want to open my editor and immediately enter a flow state. I want the +tooling to assist me when useful, and stay out of my way when not. + +**TLDR**: For this reason, my relationship with JetBrains is over, at least for now. Zed is the way forward for me, and I expect +to be a happier programmer because of it. |