I am just curious what people think is the "best" code editor? Currently I am using Text Wrangler cuz it is free but I have been looking at Sublime Text and BBEdit… Any other suggestions?
I used Coda for a long time before making the switch to ST2. The problem for Coda (and Textmate, for that matter) was they waited too long before releasing a major update. While they were both tinkering, Sublime Text pumped out an outstanding beta that was free to use and a lot of people made the switch.
I'd definitely recommend using ST2. You can even use it free for a while (it'll remind you to buy it, though). I'd of course recommend paying for it as I think it's a fantastic product.
I never quite got used to ST2's FTP plugin. I still use Coda but I'm planning on moving to ST2 within a GIT workflow. I think for me moving to ST2 is part of my breaking the habit of editing files nakedly on the server.
@chrisburton I've used the plugin for FTP on ST2 and while it was nice for local development, production work just didn't have the fluidity and ease of use that coda has built right in.
Both are great editors, but would love to see ST2 have FTP as a built in feature rather than a plugin.
Anyone else start with Dreadful Dreamweaver back when you started? I know I did, and I facepalm...
@chrisburton@theCSSguru - I tried Coda 2, but for me the lack of plugin support and customisation in comparison to ST2 didn't impress. The FTP was handy, but these days I just use Transmit anyway or indeed don't use FTP at all because of Git deploying.
Based on what you guys are saying I think I am leaning towards Sublime Text 2… Well actually that was the direction I was leaning towards even before I asked the question but now it is confirmed :)
@theCSSguru@chrisburton Yeah I was actully going for that as well since I am used with all the other Adobe software for print but a lot of people recommended me just learning coding from the basis instead so that is what I am doing :)
Sublime Text 2 is what is trendy. It has some cool features but personally I prefer an IDE like Netbeans (free) or WebStorm / PHPStorm.
if what you do is HTML/CSS/JS then you should try WebStorm (PHPStorm adds PHP support). It is a full IDE and it is cheaper than ST2. It supports some of the latest technologies out of the box (sass, less, coffeescript, zen coding, Live Edit etc). And of course with an IDE you get real codeIntel, FTP, versioning, linting etc without the need to download and setup third party plugins which are rarely as good as native features of an IDE anyway.
@andy_unleash - I don't misunderstand anything. 3rd party plugins and extensibility are great and many editors and IDEs can use plugins, not just ST2.
However if using a feature is a core part of my workflow I'd rather have that feature being build-in rather than a 3rd party plugin because (a) I don't need to worry about one more thing to download, install and setup (b) core features often work better - plugin quality varies greatly (c) I don't need to worry that some plugin might stop working when I update the software (d) the company I buy the software from is responsible for all the core features while the developer of a free plugin has no responsibility to maintain it or offer any support.
I am with @zoom on this. If you have not tried Phpstorm lately then your are missing out on one hell of an IDE/text editor. ST2 is good, but i never use it. Phpstorm does so much more and the plugins are great. The new Less compiler is awesome. If you try it make sure to try the new version 6 EPA. It has the Dracula theme and is fast.
I started with Dreamweaver CS2, changed to Coda (mostly for the price) and loved it. Then I tried Sublime Text 2 (on recommendation) and aside from the code colour highlighting change from Coda to ST2 (which has been surprising hard to change) it's been amazing!
The only issue I've had, to-date, is the change-over from Zen-coding to Emmet. I know it's not the fault of Sublime Text 2, but I just had to toss that one in there.
I am just curious what people think is the "best" code editor? Currently I am using Text Wrangler cuz it is free but I have been looking at Sublime Text and BBEdit… Any other suggestions?
This is a pretty great article by @jamy_za
http://css-plus.com/2012/02/my-journey-to-the-perfect-text-editor
This discussion has been talked about many times in the forums. The majority seem to like Sublime Text 2.
Sublime Text 2 is probably one of the favourites around here.
I use Coda because of it's awesome built in FTP capabilities, but if it weren't for that I'd be using Sublime Text 2.
I used Coda for a long time before making the switch to ST2. The problem for Coda (and Textmate, for that matter) was they waited too long before releasing a major update. While they were both tinkering, Sublime Text pumped out an outstanding beta that was free to use and a lot of people made the switch.
I'd definitely recommend using ST2. You can even use it free for a while (it'll remind you to buy it, though). I'd of course recommend paying for it as I think it's a fantastic product.
@thecssguru, ST2 has a plugin for FTP.
I never quite got used to ST2's FTP plugin. I still use Coda but I'm planning on moving to ST2 within a GIT workflow. I think for me moving to ST2 is part of my breaking the habit of editing files nakedly on the server.
@chrisburton I've used the plugin for FTP on ST2 and while it was nice for local development, production work just didn't have the fluidity and ease of use that coda has built right in.
Both are great editors, but would love to see ST2 have FTP as a built in feature rather than a plugin.
Anyone else start with Dreadful Dreamweaver back when you started? I know I did, and I facepalm...
@thecssguru Definitely agree with that.
@chrisburton @theCSSguru - I tried Coda 2, but for me the lack of plugin support and customisation in comparison to ST2 didn't impress. The FTP was handy, but these days I just use Transmit anyway or indeed don't use FTP at all because of Git deploying.
@andy_unleash There is a DockSend packagefor ST2 that ties it in with Transmit. It's great!
@joshuanhibbert - Just installed the package, WHAT IS THIS WIZARDRY.
Thanks for the tip, this will be super handy for sites I'm editing that I can't use Git with.
After watching Chris' videos in the Lodge and seeing him work in Sublime Text 2 and recommend it, I gave it a go and have really enjoyed it.
I also watched the Tuts+ Perfect Workflow in Sublime Text 2 and it helped me get used to the environment and set it up.
Two of my favorite packages are:
Bracket Highlighter
Emmet
@andy_unleash Yeah, it's such a time saver! I love it :)
Based on what you guys are saying I think I am leaning towards Sublime Text 2… Well actually that was the direction I was leaning towards even before I asked the question but now it is confirmed :)
@theCSSguru @chrisburton Yeah I was actully going for that as well since I am used with all the other Adobe software for print but a lot of people recommended me just learning coding from the basis instead so that is what I am doing :)
@elmsoftware Tuts+ is awesome!
@chrisburton love your article btw! Thanks for sharing your experiences
i work with espresso. just like its way of handling stuff somehow...
Sublime Text 2 is what is trendy. It has some cool features but personally I prefer an IDE like Netbeans (free) or WebStorm / PHPStorm.
if what you do is HTML/CSS/JS then you should try WebStorm (PHPStorm adds PHP support). It is a full IDE and it is cheaper than ST2. It supports some of the latest technologies out of the box (sass, less, coffeescript, zen coding, Live Edit etc). And of course with an IDE you get real codeIntel, FTP, versioning, linting etc without the need to download and setup third party plugins which are rarely as good as native features of an IDE anyway.
@zoom - I think you're basically mis-understanding the value in having 3rd party developers working on plugins and the extensibility of ST2.
I love using coda on my mac and still love using dreamweaver on my PC.
@andy_unleash - I don't misunderstand anything. 3rd party plugins and extensibility are great and many editors and IDEs can use plugins, not just ST2.
However if using a feature is a core part of my workflow I'd rather have that feature being build-in rather than a 3rd party plugin because (a) I don't need to worry about one more thing to download, install and setup (b) core features often work better - plugin quality varies greatly (c) I don't need to worry that some plugin might stop working when I update the software (d) the company I buy the software from is responsible for all the core features while the developer of a free plugin has no responsibility to maintain it or offer any support.
I am with @zoom on this. If you have not tried Phpstorm lately then your are missing out on one hell of an IDE/text editor. ST2 is good, but i never use it. Phpstorm does so much more and the plugins are great. The new Less compiler is awesome. If you try it make sure to try the new version 6 EPA. It has the Dracula theme and is fast.
I guess TextMate as that is what Chris uses but i don't use a mac so i don't really know! sorry!
I started with Dreamweaver CS2, changed to Coda (mostly for the price) and loved it. Then I tried Sublime Text 2 (on recommendation) and aside from the code colour highlighting change from Coda to ST2 (which has been surprising hard to change) it's been amazing!
The only issue I've had, to-date, is the change-over from Zen-coding to Emmet. I know it's not the fault of Sublime Text 2, but I just had to toss that one in there.