Re: A package in a league of its own: Helm

[Óscar Fuentes]

"Tu, Do" <solidius4747@gmail.com> writes:

Some corrections follow.

> - It has fuzzy matching by default. You have to install flx to get
> fuzzy matching in ido.

ido has fuzzy matching (and regexp matching) built-in. IIRC, you can
switch to any of the match algorithms on the fly. flx is an external
package witn a plug-in for ido that does fuzzy matching on steroids.

> - Depends on what file type your highlighting candidate is, Helm opens
> it appropriately. For example, if you RET on a directory, Helm opens
> dired; if you RET on a file, Helm opens that file. You can also
> customize the application to open the files. Stock find-file at least
> can open directory; Ido simply can't.

With ido's find-file you can press C-d to start dired any time. You can
also kill a file.

> - Helm is compatible with both Linux and Windows path. Ido can't; you
> have to drop into stock find-file.

That's not correct. Ido works fine on Windows.

Ido is not as rich as Helm by a long shot, but it is not as poor as you
seem to think either.

In my opinion, one fundamental difference among ido and helm is that ido
is a component for doing one task (being a replacement for Emacs'
completing system, with a few context-dependent extra features like
killing a file while on find-file, etc.) while helm is a replacement of
a large chunk of Emacs' non-text-editing UI. Is like comparing a shovel
with a tractor.