The author reflects on their experience growing up programming in the late 1980s and early 1990s and compares the text-based integrated development environments (IDEs) of that era to the IDEs of today. They highlight the impressive features and usability of the old IDEs, such as text-based windows, drop shadows, colors, and mouse support. The author also discusses the limitations of popular modern console editors like Vim and Emacs and argues that they don’t offer the same level of usability and integrated experience as the old IDEs. They conclude by discussing the resurgence of text-based IDEs and the benefits they offer, such as remote capabilities and reduced resource consumption.
https://blogsystem5.substack.com/p/the-ides-we-had-30-years-ago-and