19 Carefully Picked Coding Editors To Choose From
Great coding software to help in daily development process can be irreplaceable tool – bad software can lower your work efficient stage so badly, you would even don’t want to hear my experiences. For example – Dreamweaver, try to write there any code in Design view, you will get so dirty code, that you will have to spend hours until you will understand and clean it to make your page load faster.
Good software however can give you a lot of tips, ways to help code faster,find your typing mistakes without a pain. My research stopped with Aptana few years ago, which one is your pick?
1. Aptana Studio (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) (FREE)
Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment that combines powerful authoring tools for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with thousands of additional plugins created by the community.
Features of Aptana Studio:
- Unified Editing for Web Apps
- Ajax and JavaScript Libraries
- Ruby on Rails, Python and PHP
- Desktop Ajax
- Free, Open Source and Cross Platform
2. SlickEdit (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; 299$)
SlickEdit is the multi-platform, multi-language code editor that gives programmers the ability to create, navigate, modify, build, and debug code faster and more accurately.
Features of SlickEdit:
- Display symbol details with List Members, function/method argument help, and formatted Javadoc/XMLdoc/Doxygen comments
- Analyze symbols and hierarchy with a rich set of tools including Symbols, Class, References, and Find Symbol tool windows
- Check in and check out from version control
- Diff files and directories
- Preview the definition for the symbol under the cursor automatically without lifting a finger. The Preview tool window shows the definition and formatted Javadoc/XMLdoc/Doxygen comments.
- Edit files up to 2 GB
3. jEdit (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) (FREE)
jEdit is a mature programmer’s text editor with hundreds (counting the time developing plugins) of person-years of development behind it.
Features of jEdit:
- Built-in macro language
- Plugins can be downloaded and installed from within jEdit using the “plugin manager” feature.
- Auto indent, and syntax highlighting for more than 130 languages.
- Supports a large number of character encodings including UTF8 and Unicode.
- Folding for selectively hiding regions of text.
- Word wrap.
- Highly configurable and customizable.
4. IntelliJ IDEA (Windows, Linux, Mac OS X) (FREE; €86 to €516)
IntelliJ IDEA is a code-centric IDE focused on developer productivity. IntelliJ IDEA deeply understands your code and gives you a set of powerful tools without imposing any particular workflow or project structure. IntelliJ IDEA is your dream pair-programmer who knows its way around the codebase, makes great suggestions right when you need them, and is always ready to help you shape your code.
Features of IntelliJ IDEA:
- Advanced Code Editing
- Supported Languages
- Technologies & Frameworks
- Teamwork Facilitation
- Code Quality Features
- Integrated Environment
- Customization & Extensibility
5. Notepad++ (Windows) (FREE)
Notepad++ is a free source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. Running in the MS Windows environment, its use is governed by GPL License.
Features of Notepad++:
- Syntax Highlighting and Syntax Folding
- WYSIWYG
- User Defined Syntax Highlighting
- Auto-completion
- Multi-Document
- Multi-View
- Regular Expression Search/Replace supported
- Full Drag ‘N’ Drop supported
- Dynamic position of Views
- File Status Auto-detection
- Zoom in and zoom out
- Multi-Language environment supported
- Bookmark
- Brace and Indent guideline Highlighting
- Macro recording and playback
6. SCREEM (Linux) (FREE)
SCREEM is a web development environment. It’s purpose is to increase productivity when constructing a site, by providing quick access to commonly used features. While it is written for use with the GNOME desktop environment in mind it does not specifically require you to be running it, just have the libraries installed.
Features of SCREEM:
- Broken Link Checking
- CTags Support
- Cut / Paste
- CVS Support
- Document Structure Display
- DTD/Doctype Parsing
- Helper Applications
- Inline Tagging
- Intelliclose
- Link Fixing
- Page Previewing
- Page Templates
- Publishing
- Recent documents / Projects
- Search / Replace
- Select Context
- Spell Checking
- Syntax Highlighting
- Tag Trees
- Task management
- Wizards
7. EmEditor (Windows) (FREE Trial; €32.15)
EmEditor is a lightweight, but extensible, commercial text editor for Microsoft Windows. Although designed for Windows XP, the program is also certified for use with Windows Vista. Available editions of the program include the 32-bit edition and the 64-bit edition, and the program also includes a portability option to set up a removable drive, such as a USB drive, through an Import and Export Wizard. Feature-wise, the program includes unicode and large file support, a tabbed window design, and is extensible via plugins and scripts (macros), many of which have been written by the users.
Features of EmEditor:
- New Snippets Plug-in
- Brackets/Quotation Mark Auto-Complete
- Narrowing
- CSV, TSV and DSV
- Full Screen View
- Clipboard History
- Wildcard Support
- Workspace Including Undo Information
- New External Tools
- Pin to List
- Save in Protected Folder
- Supports Windows 7 Jump List
- New Buttons on Toolbar
8. Programmer’s Notepad (Windows) (FREE)
Programmer’s Notepad is an open-source text editor targeted at users who work with source code.
Features of Programmer’s Notepad:
- Bookmarks (both numbered and plain)
- Code Folding/Outlining
- Docking tool windows
- Excellent external tool support with user-configurable output matching
- Export to HTML (using CSS) and RTF
- File association manager
- In-file method/definition navigation (using Ctags)
- No limit on file size (although large files may take a while to load)
- Non fixed-width font support
- Projects and Project Groups with multi-level folders and file system mirroring
- Quick Search toolbar with links to Google and Google Groups
- Regular expression search and replace
- Support for unicode files
- Support for windows, unix and macintosh file formats
- Syntax highlighting for many languages through “schemes”.
- Tabbed MDI interface
- Text Clips
- Unlimited number of schemes supported, powerful syntax highlighting supporting both user-defined and built-in schemes
- User-defined schemes (XML)
- Word-wrapping
9. PSPad (Windows) (FREE)
PSPad editor is a freeware text editor and source editor intended for use by programmers.
Features of PSPad:
The universal freeware editor, useful for people who:
- Work with plain text
- Create web pages
- Want to use a good IDE for their compiler
10. HTML-Kit (Windows) (FREE)
HTML-Kit is an HTML editor for Microsoft Windows. The application is a full-featured HTML editor designed to edit, format, validate, preview and publish web pages in HTML, XHTML and XML -languages.
Features of HTML-Kit:
- Navigate tags and scripts
- Code Folding
- Batch Search and Replace
- Upload Options
- Incremental Search and Go-To
- File Versioning and Auto Backup
- HTML-Kit Shorthand
- Not Lost in Translation
- Remote Editing with Local Copy
- Dockable Plugins
- Paste Plus
- Native Unicode Support
- Multi-Page Templates
- Re-order Document Tabs
11. EditPlus (Windows) (FREE Trial; $35)
EditPlus is a text editor, HTML editor, PHP editor and Java editor for Windows. While it can serve as a good Notepad replacement, it also offers many powerful features for Web page authors and programmers.
Features of EditPlus:
- Multiple document interface
- Overlappable windows
- Tabbed document interface
- Window splitting
- Spell checking
- Regex-based find & replace
- Encoding conversion
- Newline conversion
- Syntax highlighting
- Multiple undo/redo
- Rectangular block selection
- Bracket matching
- Auto indentation
- Auto completion
- Code folding (Text folding)
- Compiler integration
12. Crimson Editor (Windows) (FREE)
Crimson Editor is a professional source code editor for Windows. This program is not only fast in loading time, but also small in size (so small that it can be copied in one floppy disk).
Features of Crimson Editor:
- Edit multiple documents
- Syntax highlighting
- Multi-level undo / redo
- Project management
- Directory tree view window
- Find & Replace
- Column mode editing
- Natural word wrapping
- Spell checker
- User tools and macros
- Edit remote files directly using built-in FTP client
- Print & Print preview
13. Coda (Mac OS X) (99$)
Coda is a $99 commercial web development application for Mac OS X, developed by Panic.
Features of Coda:
- Plug-ins
- Open quickly
- Smart Spelling
- Subversion
- Find across files
14. BBEdit (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; From $49 to $125)
Whenever you need to work with text, whether you want to create or maintain a Web site, write a program or shell script, search log files and extract data, or write a few paragraphs (or pages, or books), BBEdit offers what you need to make accomplishing your task quicker and easier. BBEdit 9 adds over one hundred new features and over one hundred improvements over the previous version.
Features of BBEdit:
- Text Handling
- Web Development
- Programming
- File Handling
- Display
- Search
- UNIX & Admin
15. TextMate (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; €48.75)
TextMate brings Apple’s approach to operating systems into the world of text editors. By bridging UNIX underpinnings and GUI, TextMate cherry-picks the best of both worlds to the benefit of expert scripters and novice users alike.
Features of TextMate:
- Ability to Search and Replace in a Project
- Auto-Indent for Common Actions Like Pasting Text
- Auto-Pairing of Brackets and Other Characters
- Clipboard History
- Column Selections and Column Typing
- Completion of Words from Current Document
- CSS-like Selectors to Pinpoint the Scope of Actions and Settings
- Declarative Language Grammars for Graceful Mixing and Hacking
- Dynamic Outline for Working With Multiple Files
- Expand Trigger Words to Code Blocks With Tab-able Placeholders
- File Tabs when Working With Projects
- Foldable Code Blocks
- Function Pop-up for Quick Overview and Navigation
- Plug-able Through Your Favorite Scripting Language
- Recordable Macros With No Programming Required
- Regular Expression Search and Replace (grep)
- Run Shell Commands from Within a Document
- Support for Darcs, Perforce, SVK, and Subversion
- Support for More Than 50 Languages
- Switch Between Files in Projects With a Minimum of Key Strokes
- Themable Syntax Highlight Colors
- Visual Bookmarks to Jump Between Places in a File
- Works As External Editor for (s)ftp Programs
- Works Together With Xcode and Can Build Xcode Projects
16. SubEthaEdit (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; €29)
SubEthaEdit is a powerful and lean text editor. And it’s the only collaborative one that is a joy to use. By combining the ease of Bonjour with the world’s best text collaboration engine, it makes working together not only possible but even fun…
Features of SubEthaEdit:
SubEthaEdit includes various advanced features: A UNIX command line utility to enable complex and interactive pipe workflows with your terminal. Overhauled printing, including all bells and whistles, even with collaborative metadata. Exporting to HTML, again with metadata. Completely user customizable syntax highlighting through styles. Support for editing files as administrator. Improved AppleScript support to allow control of sharing features.
17. CSSEdit (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; $39.95)
Design beautiful, innovative and fast-loading web sites… with a beautiful, innovative and fast app. CSSEdit’s intuitive approach to style sheets and powerful previewing features will make you deliver awesome standards-based sites in no time!
Features of CSSEdit:
With CSSEdit, you see changes to your style sheet applied in real-time. Without saving. Without uploading. Without hassle. For any Web App or HTML file. You can edit style sheets for absolutely any site, on- or offline. Thanks to our innovative Override technology, you can even apply your open style sheets to any site and see it change instantly! Styling a Web App used to be a cycle of type — upload — refresh. CSSEdit destroys this waste of time. Making your Web 2.0 App beautiful is now easy and productive.
18. Taco HTML Edit (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; $24.95)
Taco HTML Edit is the premier HTML editor and PHP editor for the Mac. As an HTML editor, Taco HTML Edit empowers its users to rapidly create their own web sites. It is designed exclusively for Mac OS X and has many advanced features including spell checking, live browser previewing, PHP previewing, syntax checking, and much more.
Features of Taco HTML Edit:
- Component Library
- Code Coloring
- Preview
- Code Completion
- Syntax Checking
- Live Preview
- Code Clips
19. skEdit (Mac OS X) (FREE Trial; $34.95)
skEdit is a text editor for Mac OS X, aimed at web designers and programmers.
Features of skEdit:
- Tabbed interface
- Project based site management
- Code hinting and completion
- Code folding
- Code snippets
- Syntax highlighting
- File uploading and remote editing (using FTP, SFTP or WebDAV)
- HTML Tidy integration
- Search and replace with support for regular expressions
Which software for coding is your favorite? If you haven’t got one, now you certainly have some promising programs to choose from!
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Jordan Walker
Posted 770 days ago 27Really surprised that you left out Eclipse or NetBeans.
Simone
Posted 770 days ago 26My favourite editor on OsX is Espresso, I really like it.
.-= Simone´s last blog ..simonelippolis: BLG: SoundDigger.it http://blog.simonelippolis.com/2010/04/sounddigger-it/ =-.
Alexander Stepanets
Posted 771 days ago 25Quanta Plus for Linux is my best coding editor. :)
But I’m going to try Aptana Studio after reading this post… ;)
sanket
Posted 771 days ago 24oh common…is tht carefull.. have the industry uses eclipse..myeclipse / netbeans..
dont think tats careful.. frm the list mentioned i have used editplus , notepad++ n i guess thts it.. really wonder how the tow made it to the list of editors that programmers use and not eclipse / netbeans..
i personnally like eclipse.. but honestly speaking..theres nothing like one editor is better thn other.. its just that wat suites you… and tht need not be best in the industry… but its best for u and u understand it and are confortable with handleing twisting tuning it …
G13 Media
Posted 772 days ago 23Note++ is awesome! Good round up of apps here.
.-= G13 Media´s last blog ..Web Site Design San Diego Seo =-.
Chad
Posted 772 days ago 22A couple great windows editors were missed. Try checking out Sublime (http://www.sublimetext.com/) and E-TextEditor (http://www.e-texteditor.com/). Sublime’s multiple selection capabilities and mini map are awesome. It supports Textmate’s snippets, plus has an API via python to extend the editor. E-TextEditor (almost) fully supports the TextMate bundles. Minus the scripts that include AppleScript, but generally they’re easy to convert and rarely pop up. E 2.0 is in development and is coming out soon.
Vin
Posted 773 days ago 20whats about espresso?
Rob
Posted 773 days ago 19I really think you missed two of the biggest features of Coda:
* It’s got a built in terminal for SSH access
* FTP support that makes remote editing as easy as local editing.
EJ
Posted 773 days ago 18It’s simple. When it comes to text editing nothing beats sublimetext.com
if you think notepad++ is *great* (no offense I used to think the same) is because you haven’t seen the light yet. Sublime Text is the best text editor and the best textmate alternative for windows. Don’t take my word for it, go take a look and enlighten yourself and your welcome. To put it in easy words, imagine having the flexibility of emacs and the power of vim in one text editor, that’s how I summarize sublime text :) Be warned that is very addicting and multiple selections will spoil you for life. Have fun. :D
Ally
Posted 773 days ago 17I wish this post had been around a few months ago. When I got my new computer I went in search of an editor. I tried several. I bought CoffeeCup HTML Editor. I think I paid around $50 for it but the level of polish and the ease of use were what sold me. I also have Dreamweaver which I rarely use. And I believe our developer uses jEdit.
Bruce Ng
Posted 773 days ago 15as with the other commenters, i’m surprised there’s no NetBeans on the list, which is my choice. supports lots of languages, and extensible.
all in all though, not a bad list and a good article – thanks!
Nathaniel
Posted 773 days ago 14Man, I’m rather shocked Komodo Edit isn’t on here either. I find it better than Aptana in speed and usability.
.-= Nathaniel´s last blog ..Bruno Bear =-.
Chris
Posted 773 days ago 13How could you possibly miss Netbeans? I’ve tried most of the editors you’ve mentioned and I now use Netbeans, its easily the most polished of the lot.
adeonir
Posted 773 days ago 12forgot Espresso http://macrabbit.com/espresso
same producer for CSSEdit…
Michal Kozak
Posted 773 days ago 11Two best for Windows: Notepad++ and EditPlus. I haven’y been able to find any better.
Notepad++ is especially powerful, with its plugins and lots of options. Take a little time to set it up properly, but then it’s just nice to code in it :). Although I gotta say, Notepad++’s syntax highlighting is the most awful I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s the first thing I changed in it, immediately :).
As for Mac: Coda, TextMate, CSSEedit.
.-= Michal Kozak´s last blog ..michalkozak: @saadbassi I accidentally bumped onto it today morning >< I forgot about it totally. will do a quick review and submit it to you today =-.
Saad Bassi
Posted 773 days ago 161000% Agreed. Notepad++ for the win. Yayyy
CG
Posted 773 days ago 10I appreciate your effort, but its “carefully picked” and doesn’t include Netbeans?! Really?!!!
But anyway, it was worth reading so, thanks :)
Lena Tailor
Posted 773 days ago 9Am using Code.. Its my favorite editor…
rocket
Posted 773 days ago 8I am surprised that there is no netbeans editor mentioned anywhere on this article. Its awesome and supports a large number of languages and has lot more plugins to offer. I Use it to write Ruby on rails and PHP and it has never failed me ever since.
Hannes
Posted 773 days ago 7Aptana Studio but no Eclipse OR NetBeans? Seriously?
.-= Hannes´s last blog ..smashing magazine forum closed – poor call =-.
Krzysztof Kotlarski
Posted 773 days ago 6There are even more good editors like: NetBeans, e-Texteditor or SciTE
Detlef
Posted 773 days ago 5I’m using PSPad. But I’m just a hobby-designer. Only missing a code-folding function in the programm. I started yesterday a little tutorial for PSPad. And today i read your article. Nice.
.-= Detlef´s last blog ..Tipps zum Texteditor PSPad (1) =-.
Neil
Posted 773 days ago 4I just wanted to let you know that you should really include E Text Editor (http://www.e-texteditor.com/) in your list. It’s basically TextMate for windows. I love it and use it all the time. You can install any of the TextMate bundles in it.
Daniel Camargo (Pererinha)
Posted 772 days ago 21I agree with @neil. I’ve been using the e-texteditor for almost two years.
For me it is the best editor ever. You should it include on this list.
=)
.-= Daniel Camargo (Pererinha)´s last blog ..Script to download sequential files =-.
night
Posted 773 days ago 3And you forgot about Komodo Edit – It’s almost the same as aptana, but without unnecessary “Studio” part. It’s much lighter with the same power.
Jonatas Miguel
Posted 773 days ago 2I would like to recommend Netbeans. It’s actually very nice for php development, integrated documentation, autocomplete, code templates (basically text expansion, though a bit limited). HTML autocomplete, javascript autocomplete, etc…
lo0m
Posted 773 days ago 1Gvim on Windows + ctags is all I can possibly need…