Question about Design view vs Code editor

[Krish1980]

I’m fairly new to this industry(8 months), and I still rely on Dreamweaver ‘s design mode to select the code that I want to edit (I use the code or split view while designing)- very simple, just click on the element that needs to be worked upon and the code gets highlighted in code view.

What I’m curious about is this –

Almost every forum that I visit gives a thumbs down to Dreamweaver and a Thumbs up to code editors such as Sublime text2, even though it appears(I’m not sure) that these code editors do not have a design mode. How do coders manage to edit their code or someone else’s(if they’re unfortunate enough to complete someone’s pending work?). Often there are hundreds of lines of code.

If these editors do not have a Design mode, what advantages do they have over free text editors such as Notepad++? The design mode to edit code is the only real advantage that I’ve had, while using DW.

Am I learning html the wrong way? Am I missing something? Is there something these experts know and have implemented that I’m not aware of or not following?

[JoeBrooks]

The browser is your live mode :)

[Anonymous]

The best way to learn HTML/CSS/Javascript is to create small projects from scratch.

[rosspenman]

If you write your HTML in a way that’s easily-readable, you shouldn’t need to find where an element lies in the code – it should be easy to tell from its surroundings. Try adding comments to your HTML files describing what’s happening and then see if you can read it better.

[margaux]

A good text editor provides features such as colour coding different languages and highlighting syntax errors in your code. Another useful feature is that it will enable you to hide portions of code you’re not working on thereby making it easier to find the section you are working on.

I use TextWrangler which is free. There are others such as TextMate, Notepad++ which I’ve heard good things about. Some are free, some not, and you will need to choose one that works on your set up. Google text editors for web developers or something similar – [this will get you started](http://www.binaryturf.com/text-editors-top-10-text-code-editors-web-developers/ “”)

[dswift512]

Design vs geek mode… your choice. Use what makes you comfortable and get you the best results. Validate, validate, and validate.

[rosspenman]

One thing that might help you is Code Folding, which is a feature of some editors. It let’s you hide _(fold)_ the contents of some HTML elements, which will make the page easier to navigate at a glance.

[dfogge]

the chrome developer tools are your friends!
http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/tutorials/workflow-tutorials/faster-htmlcss-workflow-with-chrome-developer-tools/

just right click on any element and “inspect”.

[jurotek]

All I can say is this. Just use what you comfortable working with. That’s all that matters. At the end, no one will ask you what tool you used to make the final product you delivered, but whether the product is of great quality or it sucks and didn’t meet customer expectations, that’s what will matter. After all, the tool is as good as the person using it.

[Zoom]

It is perfectly fine to use Dreamweaver.

I personally tried many editors and IDEs and I didn’t find a perfect one. I always wish I could be able to combine features from different editors/IDEs to make what would be perfect for me, albeit this is not possible. A compromise has to be made somewhere. The editor / IDE you choose should not be based on what is currently cool, but what serves you best at this time.

I would even go a step further and say that what is best for an experienced developer is less likely to be best for a new developer like yourself.

If using DW design view to find the code that you want to edit is an important feature for you then stick with DW. As you are getting more experienced it will become easier for you to find the code without a design view. At the same time you will start wishing that you had features that are not available in DW. Then it will be time to switch to something else.

[rosspenman]

It’s not quite design view, but the navigator in Coda lets you see everything in your document and jump to it. In CSS, the list items even render with the CSS applied to them!

Look at the sidebar on the right.

Coda is Mac-only, though.

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