VSCode is proof that an Electron app can be performant, but that's not the rule, and most people writing Electron apps aren't as talented as the VSCode team.

Also, there's an expectation that an IDE will be somewhat heavyweight. I don't mind if VSCode or IntelliJ grabs a few gigs or RAM, because I live inside those applications and depend on the features they provide.

What I don't want or need is Yet Another Electron Based Markdown Editor that gobbles up half my laptop's memory so that I can edit a hundred line text document.