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  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Code Collaboration
  4. Text Editor
  5. Atom vs CLion

Atom vs CLion

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Atom
Atom
Stacks16.9K
Followers14.5K
Votes2.5K
GitHub Stars60.8K
Forks17.3K
CLion
CLion
Stacks373
Followers596
Votes224

Atom vs CLion: What are the differences?

  1. Platform Support: Atom is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it a versatile choice for developers using different operating systems. On the other hand, CLion is primarily focused on supporting Windows, macOS, and Linux, but it also provides limited support for FreeBSD. This difference in platform support may influence the choice of developers based on their preferred operating system.

  2. Language Support: Atom is a lightweight text editor that can be extended using various packages to support a wide range of programming languages. In contrast, CLion is a specialized Integrated Development Environment (IDE) designed specifically for C and C++ development, offering advanced features tailored to these languages like code analysis, refactoring, and debugging. The choice between Atom and CLion may depend on the programming language requirements of the project.

  3. Performance and Resource Usage: Atom, being a text editor, is known for its simplicity and lightweight nature, consuming fewer system resources compared to CLion, which is a full-fledged IDE with advanced functionalities. CLion, with its feature-rich environment, may require higher system specifications and memory allocation, impacting its performance on less powerful machines. Developers should consider the trade-off between features and system resource utilization when choosing between Atom and CLion.

  4. Community and Support: Atom has a large community of developers contributing to its open-source core and creating various packages to enhance its functionality. On the other hand, CLion is a commercial product developed and supported by JetBrains, offering dedicated technical support, regular updates, and integration with other JetBrains products like ReSharper. Depending on the level of support and collaboration needed, developers may opt for Atom's community-driven ecosystem or CLion's professional support.

  5. Version Control Integration: Atom provides built-in Git integration, enabling developers to manage version control seamlessly within the editor. In contrast, while CLion also supports Git integration, it has additional features for version control systems like Perforce and SVN, offering a more comprehensive solution for managing code repositories. The choice between Atom and CLion may hinge on the specific version control requirements of the development project.

  6. Customization and Extensibility: Atom boasts a flexible architecture that allows developers to customize and extend its functionality using a broad range of community-developed packages. Conversely, while CLion offers some level of customization through plugins, its focus remains primarily on providing a comprehensive development environment for C and C++, limiting the extent of customization compared to Atom. Developers seeking extensive customization options may find Atom more suitable for their needs.

In Summary, the key differences between Atom and CLion lie in their platform support, language focus, performance, community support, version control integration, and customization options.

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Advice on Atom, CLion

Andrey
Andrey

Managing Partner at WhiteLabelDevelopers

May 18, 2020

Decided

Since communication with Github is not necessary, the Atom is less convenient in working with text and code. Sublim's support and understanding of projects is best for us. Notepad for us is a completely outdated solution with an unacceptable interface. We use a good theme for Sublim ayu-dark

539k views539k
Comments
René
René

Sr. Financial Analyst

Aug 21, 2020

Review

I have used and like them both... here's my take on what to use in your case.

  1. Use whatever software your instructor is using when learning a language. It makes it simpler to start. Then change to whatever you like.
  2. Use an IDE (Integrated Development Enviroment). For Java I'd pick InteliJ (because I have found the Jetbrains IDEs great) or Visual Studio as a second pick (because it's free for individual coders).
  3. Pick your text editor: the Atom vs Notepad++, vs others question Both Atom and Notepad++ offer many features and add-ons, making it a long-disputed competition. This is what drives to chose between one and the other, and I have been alternating: On Atom: The good:
  • Good looking coding environment
  • Good autocomplete
  • Project focused structure to your files The bad:
  • Higher system resources usage
  • Slower loading time (if you are opening and closing)

Notepad++ The good:

  • Very light system resources use
  • Fast and simple, with decent code higlighting
  • Loads very fast The bad:
  • Not as pretty as Atom
  • Autocomplete and syntax checking is not that good
  • File-focused editing
489 views489
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Atom
Atom
CLion
CLion

At GitHub, we're building the text editor we've always wanted. A tool you can customize to do anything, but also use productively on the first day without ever touching a config file. Atom is modern, approachable, and hackable to the core. We can't wait to see what you build with it.

Knowing your code through and through, CLion can take care of the routine while you focus on the important things. Boost your productivity with the keyboard-centric approach (Vim-emulation plugin is also available in plugin repository), full coding assistance, smart and relevant code completion, fast project navigation, intelligent intention actions, and reliable refactorings.

Atom is a desktop application based on web technologies;Node.js integration;Modular Design- composed of over 50 open-source packages that integrate around a minimal core;File system browser;Fuzzy finder for quickly opening files;Fast project-wide search and replace;Multiple cursors and selections;Multiple panes;Snippets;Code folding;A clean preferences UI;Import TextMate grammars and themes
Smart Editor;Code Generation;CMake; Debugger;Universal Environment;Git, Mercurial, and Perforce support
Statistics
GitHub Stars
60.8K
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Forks
17.3K
GitHub Forks
-
Stacks
16.9K
Stacks
373
Followers
14.5K
Followers
596
Votes
2.5K
Votes
224
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 529
    Free
  • 449
    Open source
  • 343
    Modular design
  • 321
    Hackable
  • 316
    Beautiful UI
Cons
  • 19
    Slow with large files
  • 7
    Slow startup
  • 2
    Most of the time packages are hard to find.
  • 1
    No longer maintained
  • 1
    Cannot Run code with F5
Pros
  • 31
    Good editor
  • 30
    Easy setup
  • 24
    Already one of the best C/C++ IDEs, even before launch
  • 24
    Powerful refactoring, extremely smart IDE
  • 21
    Cross-platform build
Cons
  • 2
    Not free, unless you are a student
  • 2
    No good support for Makefiles
Integrations
GitHub
GitHub
No integrations available

What are some alternatives to Atom, CLion?

Sublime Text

Sublime Text

Sublime Text is available for OS X, Windows and Linux. One license is all you need to use Sublime Text on every computer you own, no matter what operating system it uses. Sublime Text uses a custom UI toolkit, optimized for speed and beauty, while taking advantage of native functionality on each platform.

Vim

Vim

Vim is an advanced text editor that seeks to provide the power of the de-facto Unix editor 'Vi', with a more complete feature set. Vim is a highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing. It is an improved version of the vi editor distributed with most UNIX systems. Vim is distributed free as charityware.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications. Code is free and available on your favorite platform - Linux, Mac OSX, and Windows.

PhpStorm

PhpStorm

PhpStorm is a PHP IDE which keeps up with latest PHP & web languages trends, integrates a variety of modern tools, and brings even more extensibility with support for major PHP frameworks.

IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA

Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.

Visual Studio

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.

WebStorm

WebStorm

WebStorm is a lightweight and intelligent IDE for front-end development and server-side JavaScript.

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE is FREE, open source, and has a worldwide community of users and developers.

PyCharm

PyCharm

PyCharm’s smart code editor provides first-class support for Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, CSS, popular template languages and more. Take advantage of language-aware code completion, error detection, and on-the-fly code fixes!

Notepad++

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a free (as in "free speech" and also as in "free beer") source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.

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