E162: The AI Code Editor War with Zed

Lessons Learned

Nathan Sobo, the founder of Zed, reflects on the lessons learned from developing Atom, a code editor that gained significant popularity. He emphasizes the importance of building a code editor from scratch, highlighting the need for performance and extensibility. Nathan shares his journey from lacking basic skills to mastering the art of creating a code editor, stating, "I mean, I just learned how to build a code editor. Honestly, when we started Atom, we didn't know how to do it at all." 1 Atom's growth was significant, reaching over a million monthly active users, but Nathan acknowledges the need for a more analytical approach in future projects 2.

   

Vision & Drive

Nathan's vision for Zed was deeply personal, driven by his desire to create a next-generation code editor that would surpass his previous work. He was motivated by a sense of unfulfilled potential and a personal challenge to achieve what he describes as his "white whale." 3 Nathan's journey began with a unique pitch at a GitHub party, which eventually led to the creation of Atom and later Zed 4. His commitment to innovation and performance in code editors is evident in his dedication to building Zed from the ground up.

   

Performance Focus

Performance was a critical focus during Zed's development, as Nathan prioritized creating a responsive and efficient code editor. He recounts the moment he realized the importance of performance, stating, "I remember the first day that I just started, like, editing text in this thing in plain text markdown. And I'm like, oh, my God, it is fast." 5 Nathan's commitment to performance extended to addressing feedback and ensuring the editor could handle collaborative coding seamlessly 6. His dedication to creating a tool with no "sand in the gears" reflects his passion for engineering excellence.