The best text editors for the computer. A selection of free cross-platform environments for web development

The Linux text editor is probably one of the most frequently used programs, after the browser and file manager. It can be used for writing code, editing configuration files, creating user instructions or notes and much more.

On Linux, text editors exist in two forms: text - console editors, and graphic - text editors for Linux with a graphical user interface. The former are most often used on servers, the latter on home computers. In this article, we'll look at the best open-source Linux text editors. source code, both for servers and personal computers.

Vim is a powerful Linux text editor for the command line that extends and improves the functionality of the old Unix editor Vi. This is one of best editors for Linux, it is one of the most popular and frequently used text editors among system administrators and programmers. Many users consider it an editor for programmers. When editing code and configuration files, you can turn on syntax highlighting.

2.Gedit

It is a feature-rich best Linux text editor, with graphical interface. It comes by default with the GNOME desktop environment. The editor is very easy to use and customize, and also supports a bunch of plugins.

Here are its main advantages:

  • UTF-8 support
  • Adjusting font size and colors
  • Setting up syntax highlighting
  • Copy and paste functionality
  • Undo and redo actions
  • Rolling back files
  • Search and replace
  • Clipboard

3. Nano Editor

Nano is a very easy to use Linux console text editor for both beginners and advanced Linux users. It is very convenient to use.

Some features of Nano:

  • Highly customizable keyboard shortcuts
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Undo and redo actions
  • Occupies all available stdout space
  • Supports reading from standard input

4. GNU Emacs

It is a highly extensible and customizable Linux text editor, with a built-in interpreter for the lisp programming language. To expand functionality, you can install various extensions.

  • Emacs Features:
  • Lots of documentation
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Multi-language support with Unicode
  • Support for various extensions, including mail, news, debugger, calendar and others.

5.Kate/Kwrite

It is a feature-rich and highly extensible text editor that comes bundled with the KDE Plasma desktop environment. The Kate project is aimed at developing two main programs: KatePart and Kate.

KatePart is a text editor component used in many KDE applications where text editing may be needed, and Kate is an interface for working with multiple documents in a text editor.

Main features:

  • Extending functionality using scripts
  • Unicode support
  • Editing text in multiple panels
  • Autocompletion support

It also supports remote file editing and many other functions, including search and replace, programming, text highlighting, backup etc.

6. Lime Text

It's even more than just a powerful text editor for Linux. This is an entire open source IDE. One might say, the successor to the popular Sublime Text. Can be used both in command line, and with a graphical interface.

7. Pico Editor

This is another command line editor based on the editor used in Pine news. It is the best Linux text editor for new users, mainly because of its simplicity compared to other GUI editors.

8. Jed Editor

This is another Linux console text editor with support for a graphical interface and a drop-down menu. It is made specifically for development software and one of its key features is support for Unicode mode.

9.GVim

This graphic version popular text editor VIm. It has all the same features as Vim, as well as a menu with which you can do a lot of things.

10. Geany

This is another IDE similar to a Linux text editor, tailored for software development using GTK tools.

It has all the necessary basic functions:

  • Syntax highlighting
  • Plugin Interface
  • Support various types files
  • Code folding and navigation support
  • Auto-completion
  • Support for automatic closing of HTML and XML tags
  • Project Management Features

11. Leaf Pad

It is a lightweight Linux text editor with a GTK based GUI. It is popular among new Linux users due to its simplicity.

Editor Features:

  • Automatic encoding detection
  • Undo and redo functions
  • Line numbers in the file
  • Drag and drop support
  • Print support

Bluefish is easy to install and use, the best Linux text editor aimed at programmers and web developers. He supports a large number of functions:

  • Lightweight and fast
  • Integration with external Linux utilities: lint, weblint, make, awk, grep, sort and others.
  • Spell check function
  • Support for working on multiple projects
  • Remote file editing
  • Find and replace support
  • Undo and redo support
  • Automatic recovery of changed files

13. Atom

This is a highly customizable Linux text editor for Github developers based on Chromium engine. The program is more like an IDE than just an editor. The functionality can be extended using huge amount plugins.

This is probably one of the best editors for web developers. Here are its features:

  • Modern interface in Flat style
  • Support for a huge number of plugins
  • Supports multiple programming languages
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Debugging programs in Chromium
  • Error highlighting

14. Brackets

Another modern Linux text editor based on the Chromium engine, this time from Adobe. Peculiarities.

Almost every programmer feels the need to search the best tools for development. These could be editors, libraries for task management, frameworks for simplifying work on projects, etc.

Tools make work easier and at the same time increase productivity.

Of all the tools developers ever use, the hardest one to choose is a text editor. Livecoding.tv streamers use a wide variety of editors, and almost everyone is passionate about their choice.

Not to mention that there are separate communities for each popular editor. In the end, everyone has their own preferences, their own arguments for and against.

The editor plays a fundamental role in any developer workspace. The code is written, debugged and executed using a text editor.

Choosing the perfect editor for your work can be challenging task which includes: testing, personal preferences and the final decision. Before you make your choice, we'll take you on a tour through the best editors 2016 of the year.

We will discuss 6 editors in detail, and you can find other lesser known editors at the end of the article.

SUBLIME TEXT EDITOR

Sublime Text editor is one of the best text editors today. It's a great alternative to powerful IDEs, it's lightweight and gets the job done with great efficiency and accuracy.

Sublime Text has tons of features that will make you feel the power at your fingertips. But, like any tool, it is not perfect. Let's look at the pros and cons of using Sublime Text editor.

Advantages:

  • Nice, easy, minimalistic interface.
  • Very flexible to configure. Multiple selection.
  • The ability to create any snippets and insert them using either hotkeys or letter abbreviations(Zen Coding style).
  • The ability to assign hotkeys to absolutely any action.
  • In snippets, you can set where the cursor will be when inserted, set placeholders and switch to the desired sections of the snippet with Tab.
  • Availability of a code minimap for easy navigation.
  • Display capability hidden characters(spaces, tabs) only when highlighting code.
  • There are many plugins available and an ever-growing community of users who write them to suit any need.

Flaws:

  • Sublime text is paid. Considering that there are many good free editors on the market, everyone can choose an alternative.
  • Not updated as often as before.
  • Loading time is higher compared to Notepad++.
  • The quality of the plugins remains questionable.

Overall, Sublime text is a great editor to work with. You can use it for free with infinite trial period. If you don't like pop-ups, you can purchase the editor for $70. It works on all major operating systems – Windows, Linux and Mac OSX.

Vim has stood the test of time and is one of the oldest editors in history.

Vim is very popular among developers and other computer enthusiasts who are obsessed with fully customizable editors.

Vim is famous for two reasons. Firstly, it can work using only the keyboard, without a mouse.

Secondly, it is present in almost all Unix machines. Thus, portability and ubiquity is key feature Vim.

Advantages:

  • Can be fully controlled using the keyboard
  • Can be used in environment remote development using SSH.
  • Vim can be customized to your heart's content using .vimrc dotfile and VimScript.
  • Tons of plugins to support Vim, expanding its functionality.
  • Increases productivity and copes well with large files.

Flaws:

  • Vim for advanced users. It's not easy to learn, and it takes a long time before you master it, but once you get the hang of it, it gives you power like no other editor.

Also read how to create a Vim Dotfile.

Atom

Atom was introduced a year ago and is known as a modern, highly customizable, open source editor. Despite the use of browser technologies, Atom is not a web application, but in fact, is a specialized version of Chromium, in which each tab acts as a locally processed web page.

Advantages:

  • Atom is an open source editor that is free to use.
  • Cross-platform OS X, Windows and Linux;
  • Smart auto-completion;
  • File Browser;
  • Search and replace across many files.
  • Easy to use even for a beginner.

Flaws:

  • Cannot handle large files and tends to crash when downloading files larger than 10MB.
  • Uses a lot of memory.

If you're looking for a free, open source editor, Atom is perfect for you. It is highly mobile and available on all three major OSes. However, use Atom in major projects undesirable.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code product Microsoft Corporation, which aims to allow developers to code without downloading massive Visual Studio (3GB+). Visual Studio Code is a lightweight, open source editor that works equally well on Windows, OS X and Linux. Key features of Visual Studio code include support for more than 30+ languages, automatic filling, convenient navigation, etc. It also includes Git and debugging tools to make development easier.

Advantages:

  • Supports more than 30 languages, as well as major Microsoft languages ​​such as ASP.NET, C#, etc.
  • Small size guarantees quick installation and use.

Flaws:

  • Extension support needs improvement.
  • Updating on Linux can be a daunting task.

Visual Studio Code is a great choice for developers who don't want to download and use cumbersome IDEs. It's small, cute, and most importantly, it does its job!

Notepad++

Notepad++ is another open source editor. Overall, it resembles a vanilla notepad that supports tons of programming languages. The most big advantage What Notepad++ has over the other text editors listed here is the fact that it can handle large files without any major lags or glitches. It is very fast and light. In addition, its functionality can be expanded using hundreds of available plugins.

Advantages:

  • Supports a large number of encodings.
  • Syntax highlighting.
  • Parallel document editing.
  • Comparison of documents.
  • Search and autocorrect using regular expressions.
  • Working with files on an FTP server.
  • Auto-completion.
  • Extensible with plugins.

Flaws:

  • Not the best user interface.
  • Too simple.

Notepad ++ is perfect for those who are satisfied with a simple interface and set of functions. It will help you quickly and easily create new products.

Brackets

Our last text editor that we will discuss in detail is the open source editor “Brackets”. Brackets is not universal editor, it is focused on front-end development and supports a large number of front-end technologies.

Advantages:

  • It's lightweight, modern, and has a great user interface.
  • Opportunity preview, preprocessor support and built-in editors. Light Table

The editor is an indispensable tool in the arsenal of any developer. I hope after reading the article you will make your choice.

If you think there is a missing editor in the article that needs attention, please let us know by leaving a comment.

At mythemeshop.com.

To write optimized and error-free code, a programmer needs to choose the right tool for himself. A good text editor improves your productivity and also helps you avoid some of the most common programming mistakes.

Only a developer knows what it's like to miss a semicolon in a thousand lines of code and it causes the program to fail. Effective text editors are able to notify the programmer about such syntax errors directly when writing code.

We have already published on our website and received a lot of feedback from readers. Therefore, it was decided to continue the topic of text editors for programmers, this time for Windows and MacOS.

So, we present the first seven best code editors for Windows and Mac. ().

This is a developer platform from Microsoft. This tool, however, is open source and can be used on different platforms(Windows, Mac OS X and Linux). main feature This code editor is that it provides an enriched programming experience for developers without having to download a massive Visual Studio editions file (weighing approximately 3GB). This saves both time and throughput. Thus, the application is very lightweight and does not consume much random access memory and promotes quick access and implementation.

Advantages:

Supports more than 30 programming languages, including the main one Microsoft language ASP.NET, C#, etc.

  1. The program installs very quickly due to its compact size.
  2. Eat portable version for downloading on supported devices.
  3. Allows monitoring of GitHub and offers debugging features.

Flaws:

  1. Updating a program on Linux takes a very long time.
  2. Needs immediate improvement in extension support.

Price: The program is distributed free of charge.

Bottom line: Visual Studio Code takes up very little disk space. Good for languages ​​such as ASP.Net and C#. Since it is a lightweight application, you can access controls smoothly without any glitches and optimize your coding speed.

This is an improved and more functional brother of the text one. Notepad editor, which can be found on Windows OS. Between them there is significant difference in the interface, which you will notice immediately after you start working with .

This application supports various languages programming, but is mainly known as best HTML editor. The program allows you to choose colors for syntax highlighting and highlights errors in the code as you type it.

Advantages:

  1. Although the program was created for Windows, it can be run on Linux, Unix, Mac OS X (for the latter, using Wine).
  2. The application is lightweight and launches quickly.
  3. Supports external plugins, including macros.
  4. The interface supports editing in different tabs.
  5. Adding bookmarks.
  6. Drag and drop option for beginners.
  7. Option to search and replace text.
  8. Full screen mode.
  9. Minimize to tray.
  10. Thoughtful syntax highlighting.
  11. Automatic indentation and autocompletion.
  12. Folding code and text.
  13. Compiler integration.
  14. FTP support.
  15. Spell checking with file comparison.

Flaws:

  1. Remote file editing does not support HTTP, SSH or WebDav.
  2. Does not support large files.
  3. Startup required third party programs(wine) to run the application on Mac OS X.

Price: the program is free.

Result: It is one of the best text editors for writing code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP). Many modern code editors do not provide the option of code highlighting in case of any error, but Notepad++ supports this feature and helps you write error-free code.

jEdit

And this is an editor for experienced programmers. Jedit is an open source platform developed using Java language. This language is one of the most secure. The bytecode functionality in Java makes it difficult to decipher and decode. The application supports hundreds of plugins and macros.

Advantages:

  1. Automatic indentations.
  2. Folding code and text.
  3. This is the most powerful engine to execute regular expressions.
  4. Spell checking, FTP support, the ability to integrate the compiler using a third-party plugin.
  5. Ability to run multiple instances of the program simultaneously.
  6. Integrated FTP browser.

Flaws:

  1. Being written in Java, the application is heavy and therefore takes time to load.
  2. No collaborative editing.
  3. There may be bugs on Mac.
  4. No support for large files.
  5. No SSH support for editing remote files.

Price: free program.

Result: if you want a well-functioning and secure platform, jEdit is right choice for you. This java based code editor sometimes takes a while to load, but you won't be disappointed with its features and functionality. Enjoy this free text editor for a clean, safe and streamlined programming session.

It is a text editor that will enrich your coding and programming experience on Windows computers. While most programs available for Windows also run on Mac and Linux platforms, Araneae is one of the few exceptions that runs only on Windows. This tool includes numerous extensions and localizations, providing support for multiple languages ​​(HTML, CSS, XHTML, PHP and Rails) without downloading third-party extensions.

Advantages:

  1. Syntax highlighting.
  2. Drag and drop option for faster development.
  3. Find and replace for multiple edits.
  4. Support for running multiple instances like jEdit.

Flaws:

  1. There is no support for third-party plugins and macros.

Price: free program.

Result: Araneae, running only on Windows, offers more fast updates and bug fixes. Can be successfully used as a PHP editor.

Coda

Coda is a text editor supported by Mac. Designed for brilliant programmers who love the combination of speed and optimization in one editor. Coda supports OS X 10.7.5 and later Mac versions. It is one of the very few text editors created exclusively for Mac systems.

This program has changed significantly since its original release in 2007, evolving from a simple text editor to a preview application. Coda has it all necessary functions, which you may need to write code, including syntax, viewing and loading your web pages. Transmit Turbo Engine supports fast loading from remote locations.

Advantages:

  1. Compactly integrated core functions.
  2. Leopard GUI
  3. Code completion.
  4. Editing blocks and syntax coloring.
  5. Drag and drop option.
  6. Terminal window support for MySQL queries.

Flaws:

  1. Best suited for coding in HTML and CSS.
  2. Only supported for Mac based systems.
  3. Support network drives often leads to crashes.
  4. Expensive compared to other code editors.

Price: 7-day trial/$99 for full version.

Result: Coda - best alternative expensive programs for web design. Brings together all the tools you need to develop a website from scratch. Coda is the best text editor for Mac in terms of price and features. The app also supports update notifications.

TextMate

TextMate is another text editor for Mac. For the most part, this editor is preferred for Ruby and Ruby on Rails programming. It is also a well-established editor for developers programming in Mac system. The application is perfect for development on modern languages programming.

Advantages:

  1. Search and replace.
  2. Automatic indentations.
  3. Clipboard history.
  4. Selecting columns and typing text in columns.
  5. Autocompletion.
  6. Support for collapsing code blocks.
  7. Perforce, Darcs, SVK and Subversion support.
  8. Supports more than 50 programming languages.
  9. Syntax highlighting and colorization.
  10. Xcode support.
  11. FTP support.

Flaws:

  1. Outdated UI is the most big drawback this highly optimized text editor for Mac.
  2. No full screen mode.
  3. Available for Mac OSX only.

Price: Free program.

Result: Without a doubt, if you are looking for a free text editor for Mac, then TextMate will best choice. For Windows free There are a lot of text editors, but very few for Mac, and TextMate is one of them.

Another iOS-based program is . This is one of the small number software platforms, which only supports one language, for example English. But that doesn't mean TextWrangler is just another standard application. This editor is simple but quite powerful. It is one of the best tools for Unix and server administration.

Advantages:

  1. Supports 44 languages, including HTML, JavaScript, Perl, Python, VBScript and SQL.
  2. Very few code editors support working with large files, and TextWrangler is one of them.
  3. Support for plugins and macros.
  4. Secure FTP for easy data transfer.
  5. SSH support for remote file editing.
  6. Simultaneous comparison of two documents.
  7. Syntax highlighting.
  8. Folding text and code.
  9. Autocompletion.
  10. Spell check.

Flaws:

  1. Does not support collaborative editing.
  2. No HTTP or WebDav support.
  3. No compatibility with Power Macintosh G4.

Price: free software.

Result: The application is free, but you can upgrade to a more advanced version of the application, such as BBEdit, for $49. This is a great HTML editor for Mac with big amount useful functionality.

Disclaimer

I am young enough and inexperienced in the IT field to make any super-arguments, so everything listed below will be my personal subjective thoughts and reasoning. If someone disagrees with me, I will be only happy to support the discussion and discuss all this in the comments.


Now I work on Windows, in the future I may switch to Mac OS, so when choosing a text editor/IDE, I immediately emphasized cross-platform. I considered a little more options than I will list here, because I decided to highlight only the ones that caught my eye. I will try to briefly describe the view on different sides listed software products.

Standard tasks

Under standard tasks I mean banal layout tasks, i.e. HTML, CSS, maybe JavaScript. I will not emphasize those things that are everywhere, for example: changing color themes, project folder control system, etc.

An excellent editor for ASP.NET and node.js applications. The famous IntelliSense, the ability to work with classes and objects by reference. All in Microsoft style. There is a built-in debugger. I want it too emphasize, which in my opinion is an excellent replacement for MonoDevelop for .NET developers outside of Windows (here that is Visual Studio).

The editor is still under development, but work is progressing quite quickly, considering that this is Microsoft.

Bottom line


Summarizing the above, I made my choice. You don’t have to settle on the same criteria as me. I will be happy to discuss everything in the comments to the article.

Thank you for your attention!

There are many ways to write code for web applications, from text editors to cloud-based development environments. It is difficult to immediately decide which environment is best suited for the tasks at hand. To save you time, we selected the most popular:

At the end of each section there is a summary table in which you can clearly see a comparison of the functions of editors for web development. This article discusses exclusively free cross-platform solutions, so popular proprietary editors like Sublime Text are not included in the selection.

Text editors for web development

Komodo Edit

Main features:

  • endless story of cancellation,
  • a wide range of plugins,
  • support for hundreds of programming languages ​​and file formats,
  • powerful search and replace,
  • integration with third party tools.

GNU Emacs

Desktop Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

Eclipse

Cloud IDEs

Most desktop applications have moved to the cloud, so it is not surprising that cloud environments are also becoming popular among programmers. Not everyone immediately trusts cloud-based IDEs, but popular tools like Github and Pastebin help you get used to the fact that the source code is stored not on the local machine, but on a third-party server.

Cloud9

After a few minutes of working in Cloud9, you get the impression that you are in paradise for programmers. The interface is written in JavaScript, and the server part is written in NodeJS. Although Cloud9 is favored by developers and interface designers, it supports syntax highlighting for C#, C++, Python, Perl, Ruby, Scala and some other languages.

Vim's built-in mode is a nice touch, as is the support popular systems version control like Git, Mercurial and SVN. With CSSLint and JSBeautify, it is one of the most beautiful development environments.

Codeanywhere

Another app creation tool that often tops lists of the best is Codeanywhere. This cloud-friendly IDE supports code highlighting for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL and other languages. With apps for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry, Codeanywhere allows programmers to work anywhere.

Additionally, Codeanywhere supports Dropbox and SFTP, which help you easily create backups project files and share them with colleagues. It's not the most fully featured environment, but it gets the job done perfectly.

The system is paid, but there is a free tariff plan.

Eclipse Che

Eclipse Che - cloud based working space developer and built-in IDE. Che provides an open source remote platform for multi-user application creation.

Main features:

  • workspaces including runtimes and IDEs,
  • workstation server with RESTful web services,
  • cloud IDE,
  • language plugins, platforms and tools,
  • SDK for creating plugins and assemblies.

Eclipse Che has two builds - single-user and multi-user. The first does not have components that provide multitenancy and differentiation of access rights. In this case, the server remains unprotected, but for local development it is a good choice.

Multi-tenant provides multi-tenancy. Accounts Users and desktops are isolated, and the KeyCloak mechanism is used for registration, management and authentication. Permissions APIs govern access to objects such as spaces, stacks, and organizations. User information is stored in a migration-aware database (PostgreSQL).