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I actually agree with everything you've said there. I just don't think the top editors are different enough in feature-set to make it matter much.

Your choice of text editor is just a micro-optimization. As much as I'd like, there isn't one that will turn me into the code-whisperer.

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Sure it wont make you a code whisperer, but once you find an editor that works with your way of thought, you find some crazy cool stuff does happen. For me, it has become as if my editor is directly connected to my brain. If i want to go to a function definition, it just happens. If I want to search, i find myself a the target without every thinking "now i need to do a search". When refactoring I can move chunks of code around, and refit everything to the new pattern without any thought of the text level changes. This is brought by knowing a good tool well combined with knowing the code base and language well. However, without the tool I couldn't be nearly as effective.

I think you've created a straw man by this point. Nobody's saying a text editor will turn you into a Nietzschean Übermensch. However, even if it isn't that radical, good tools that make the incidental details go smoothly can still make a big difference.

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