Rust in Production

Zed with Conrad Irwin

Oct 17, 2024
Conrad Irwin, a seasoned developer known for his work on Superhuman, discusses his journey with Zed, a cutting-edge text editor built from scratch. He delves into the innovative use of Rust and GPU rendering, pushing the boundaries of performance. Interesting topics include enhancing type safety with custom smart pointers, the implementation of async solutions for seamless GPU interfaces, and integrating WebAssembly with Tree Sitter for improved coding capabilities. Conrad also emphasizes the importance of community in collaborative coding and overcoming challenges in large file editing.
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ANECDOTE

Editor Frustrations

  • Matthias Endler frequently switched between VS Code and NeoVim due to performance and configuration issues.
  • This struggle made him an ideal Zed user, seeking a better tool.
INSIGHT

Zed's Rendering Approach

  • Zed's architecture prioritizes speed by rendering like a game, redrawing the entire screen to the GPU each frame.
  • This GPU-based rendering approach differs significantly from VS Code's CPU-bound rendering.
INSIGHT

Custom GUI Toolkit

  • Zed built its own GUI toolkit (GPUI) for speed and control over macOS integration.
  • This direct control allows faster iteration and avoids unnecessary abstractions from other frameworks.
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