Currently in its 2nd version with version 3 on the way, this is a popular choice amongst web professionals because of its simplicity and low learning curve. However, if you just want a great all around text editor, then download Sublime Text. When choosing a text editor, you should try out a few to see which ones you like. Now, let’s get a bit more practical and take a look at a few of the most popular text editors that the pros use. Most text editors aspire to this vague goal, but it’s a moving target because everyone has slightly unique preferences and needs. The tool should disappear and allow your ideas to fly. If you’re comfortable with your tool, it (hopefully) means that you’re also able to get work done quickly. You should use the text editor that makes you the most efficient. While there’s no simple answer to “Which text editor should I use?” there’s one simple rule that can guide you in making the choice: The text editor you use depends on a couple of factors, but primarily it comes down to personal preference. ![]() There’s too many to choose from, so if you’re inexperienced, you’re naturally inclined to draw upon the experience of another. Imagine that you’re in a restaurant and you ask, “What kind of wine should I get?” The server might recommend some reds and whites, but you may ultimately want them to make the decision for you. A more everyday text editor lacks these capabilities in exchange for maximum flexibility. IDEs also tend to take up more screen space for all of their various panels and widgets, which can factor in to the decision for some people. Some people do prefer these power tools, but they can sometimes come at the expense of other factors like flexibility, ease of use, or code that is both lean and performant. While almost every IDE has the capability of creating and editing plain text documents, they also include a wealth of other features and powerful capabilities. This is where professionals “hand code” HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, PHP, and many other languages.įor completeness, I should also point out that a text editor is not the same thing as an IDE (integrated development environment). Text editors are commonly used by web designers and developers because it provides maximum flexibility to create just about anything. In fact, your code probably won’t work at all unless it was written and saved in a plain text environment. When you’re writing computer code, you don’t need or want any special formatting. ![]() This is very different than a robust word processing program like Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, or Google Docs, because they add special formatting that’s hidden to the user. Yet it makes sense that there’s an abundance of variety, because a text editor is a programmer’s most important tool and it mostly comes down to personal preference.Ī text editor is a computer program that allows you to create and edit files that contain plain text. Wikipedia’s comparison of text editors is ridiculously lengthy and feels beyond human scale. However, I can understand why it’s confusing. One of the most common questions I’m asked by Treehouse students is, “Which text editor should I use?” That’s a really great question with no simple answer.
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