Vi is a smaller and faster program, but with less capacity for customization. Emacs client startup time is practically instantaneous as all it does is invoke the existing Emacs process to redraw the display. Various instances of Emacs can then be started in client mode, attaching to this server and sharing state. Emacs 18 (released in 1987) introduced a server mode designed to run continuously in the background. However, it is highly customizable and includes a large number of features, as it is essentially an execution environment for a Lisp program designed for text-editing. This makes Emacs take longer to start up (even compared to vim) and require more memory. This creates a path in the decision tree which unambiguously identifies any command.Įmacs executes many actions on startup, many of which may execute arbitrary user code. Vi retains each permutation of typed keys (e.g. This still forms a decision tree of commands, but not one of individual keystrokes. Traditionally, Emacs commands are key combinations for which modifier keys are held down while other keys are pressed a command gets executed once completely typed. The most important historical differences between vi and Emacs are presented in the following table: Related battles have been fought over operating systems, programming languages, version control systems, and even source code indent style. The Emacs versus vi debate was one of the original 'holy wars' conducted on Usenet groups, with many flame wars fought between those insisting that their editor of choice is the paragon of editing perfection, and insulting the other, since at least 1985. The rivalry has become an enduring part of hacker culture and the free software community.

The editor war is the rivalry between users of the Emacs and vi (now usually Vim, or more recently Neovim) text editors. For the type of conflict between Wikipedia editors, see Wikipedia:Edit warring.

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