In the world of IT and web development, few tools have left such a significant mark as the Atom Editor. An open source IDE you should have tried.

Atom, originally developed by GitHub and later acquired by Microsoft, became an indispensable tool for many developers. Unfortunately, Atom’s development was discontinued, but its legacy lives on in the form of Pulsar. In this article, we will look at the benefits of Atom and Pulsar.

The Benefits of the Atom Editor

1. Versatility and Extensibility

Atom was often described as a “hackable text editor for the 21st century”. Its strength lay in its high customizability and extensibility. Developers could expand Atom with a variety of plugins and themes to tailor the editor precisely to their needs. This made Atom an extremely flexible tool for a variety of use cases, from web development to data science.

2. Intuitive User Interface

Atom’s user interface was welcoming to both beginners and experienced developers. With its clear and organized structure, Atom offered an environment where developers could quickly find their way around. Features like split view, the file tree view, and Git integration made working efficient and pleasant.

3. Free and Open Source

Another major advantage of Atom was that it was free and open source. This allowed the community to actively contribute to its development and ensure the editor met the ever-changing demands of developers.

4. Integrated Git Support

The tight integration of Git directly into the editor was a standout feature. Developers could manage their version control directly from within Atom, significantly simplifying the workflow. The visual representation of changes, commits, and branches helped keep track of projects.

The Transition to Pulsar

When the news broke that Microsoft would discontinue the development of Atom, the disappointment in the developer community was great. But from the end of Atom emerged a new possibility: Pulsar. Pulsar is a fork of Atom, developed by the community to retain and expand upon Atom’s popular features and flexibility.

1. Seamless Continuity

Pulsar builds directly on Atom’s code, meaning the transition for existing Atom users is seamless. Most plugins and themes developed for Atom are also compatible with Pulsar. Developers can thus maintain their familiar workflows and configurations.

2. Active Community and Ongoing Development

One of Pulsar’s greatest advantages is the active community behind the project. This community drives the development forward, ensuring that Pulsar remains current and continuously improves. This guarantees that Pulsar meets the modern demands of developers.

3. Future Security

Community-driven development makes Pulsar less susceptible to sudden changes in development direction or discontinuation, as can happen with commercially supported projects. This offers developers a long-term perspective and security.

Conclusion

The Atom Editor won many hearts during its active time and supported developers worldwide. Despite Microsoft’s discontinuation of its development, its legacy lives on in the form of Pulsar. Pulsar offers the same flexibility, extensibility, and user-friendliness as Atom but is further developed and maintained by an engaged community. For developers who appreciated Atom’s benefits, Pulsar presents a promising future.

The transition from Atom to Pulsar is straightforward and allows for the retention of established workflows while benefiting from new developments. In an ever-changing technological landscape, Pulsar remains a reliable companion for developers seeking a robust and customizable editor.