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Comment by rezonant | Hacker News Reader

Any time you need to make the same edits in multiple places. I use it to mass edit array items for example by using the highlight / add cursor to identical text feature in VS Code (Ctrl+D). I even use it to copy data out of the browser and mass edit it into data structures-- often there will be some pattern to the pasted data even if it's garbage, so being able to quickly set up multicursors around the patterns in the text makes this sort of task much easier, if you are luckily on how the data pastes out.

Multicursors are the number one editor innovation of the last ten years that developers should get comfortable with-- once you start to use them you won't want to use an editor without them.

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Personally while there are some task that's easier with multiple cursors, I have personally yet to find any use case where regexp replace in selections doesn't work as well.

I find Emacs Macros and rectangular editing as more useful in lore situations than multiple cursors.

As for regexps, the syntax in Emacs is hell, but I do know Emcacs has very powerful edit/replace tools.

"Emcacs"...I like it.

Yeah... typing fast and from the phone has this problem

Multi-cursor is more flexible than rectangular selection. You can skip or delete words of varying length etc. It is certainly less powerful than vim macro and regex, but it's easy to use because 1) there are less shortcuts to remember 2) no need to think too much like figuring out regex for simple tasks 3) it gives instant feedback

Video showing this https://youtu.be/lhFNWTAIzOI?t=28

skill issue tbh

There's a reason people use visual editors and not ed.

Wouldn’t remotely compare regex to ed.

I also haven’t found a use for multiple cursors.

Writing a regex is quick and easy.

You cannot edit in real-time with regex

With regex, you need to plan everything you need to do and then surgically do it.

With multiple cursors, you only need to know (roughly) where you need to change, the rest you figure it out on the fly.

In editors like vim/emacs it is possible and common.

I guess with rectangular selection and macros, VIM folks don't find much use for multiple cursors.

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