I just, can't imagine what benefit you get from opening an X gigabyte file.
Maybe I don't fully understand the context, but... why shouldn't you open a big file?
I haven't read the whole article, but I did read that the author complains that a 172 kb text file makes the editor slow. It seems that the syntax highlighting is the culprit.
I have a similar problem with my current editor of choice. I used to have a "raw" visualizer for all kind of files. Sometimes the file format is just unknown and it's useful to take a look at its contents (does it start with PK?) or you want to make a quick overwriting edit (to change some binary flags) or edit text in a huge machine-generated text file without any formatting beyond line feeds.
If I understood the author correctly, he's saying that structured editors are superior to a syntax highlighting system that's based on regexps, when you use them for programming. I agree wholeheartedly. It's a clear-cut case of the "don't repeat yourself" principle.
Maybe I don't fully understand the context, but... why shouldn't you open a big file?
I haven't read the whole article, but I did read that the author complains that a 172 kb text file makes the editor slow. It seems that the syntax highlighting is the culprit.
I have a similar problem with my current editor of choice. I used to have a "raw" visualizer for all kind of files. Sometimes the file format is just unknown and it's useful to take a look at its contents (does it start with PK?) or you want to make a quick overwriting edit (to change some binary flags) or edit text in a huge machine-generated text file without any formatting beyond line feeds.
If I understood the author correctly, he's saying that structured editors are superior to a syntax highlighting system that's based on regexps, when you use them for programming. I agree wholeheartedly. It's a clear-cut case of the "don't repeat yourself" principle.