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Are IDEs mostly bloatware?
(programming.dev)
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I mean, define bloatware?
A piece of software can use a lot of system resources without being bloatware if it provides user value commiserate with the resource demand.
Aside from a browser, my IDE provides everything I need to develop software. Terminal, debugger, http client, linter, test runner, prettier, code assist, db client, ftp client, git ui, search tool with indexes, etc.
Could I install ten smaller pieces of software to accomplish the same things and only run them when I need them? Sure. But why? I'm lucky to have a decent machine that runs fine with Chrome, Zoom, Slack, Docker Desktop, and four IDE instances open.