A text editor is an application that programmers usually use to compile program code so that it becomes a new application. Those of you Windows users may have opened the Notepad application. The application is an example of a text editor that exists today.
In the opening section, we have discussed the importance of text editors. Yes, the text editor is an essential part of programmers. You could even say a text editor is a primary weapon for programmers to build an application. Moreover, coding (compiling lines of Code) is an inseparable part of a programmer’s job.
There are lots of text editor options. You start from a text editor with simple features to a text editor with complete features with various additional plugins available. However, you cannot choose a text editor based on features alone.
A good text editor is a must-have for every programmer or writer, and it should always be present in any operating system. A text editor is a fantastic tool for managing Code, taking short notes, or simply working without distractions. As a result, we’ll present you with a list of the finest text editors based on your suggestions today.
- Any of the IDEs was created with a specific programming language in mind. PyCharm, for instance, is the greatest IDE for Python development. For Java programming, Eclipse is the best choice.
- The IDE includes some pre-installed libraries for the programming language in question.
- External plugins are also supported. You can use their plugin if you need an interface for external tools such as debugging tools.
- It includes syntax highlighting. It facilitates and accelerates your development.
- The auto-completion of keywords such as variable names and function names obstructs your learning. You did not consider it when the line of Code was autocompleted.
- You’ll be sidetracked by the IDE’s clumsy menu options, icons, and dozens of toolbars that you don’t need right now.
- When you click the “Execute” button, you will not comprehend the compilation and procedure required in running the software.
10 Best Free Text Editors For Programmers in 2022
Although many IDEs are dedicated to specific programming languages, a text editor is still one of the tools that every programmer should have on hand. We’ll go over ten of them, each with certain crucial functions and features that can help any programmer work more efficiently.
Various kinds of text editors are popular today. Some of them have the advantages of exclusive features, being lightweight, support with multiple Programming Languages, and integrating with other programs.
Notepad++ is a text and source code editor for use with Microsoft Windows. It supports tabbed editing, allowing working with multiple open files in a single window. The product’s name comes from the C increment operator. Notepad++ provides additional features that are more modern and advanced. Notepad only uses a simple menu display with a white background, whereas, in Notepad++, you will see many menu options and icons.
You can do a lot of things using Notepad++. This application can read various programming languages. There is also a plugin menu to add features.
Notepad++ uses the tabbed window view. This feature will be very useful when you have several files open at the same time. There is also a view of the layout of the files you are currently opening to provide information on the position of the files in the working folder.
Atom is just as elegant as Sublime Text. This application supports a variety of languages in addition to its stunning appearance and sophisticated design. If you want to add more features, you may do so easily using the plugin menu.
Atom has several advantages over other text editors, including web-based technology, fuzzy finder, rapid project-wide, file system browser, TextMate grammars, connectivity with Node.js, etc.
Atom is a relatively simple program to set up. To get it, go to the Atom page. It should be emphasized that because this editor has so many capabilities, you will need to prepare a considerable amount of data compared to other text editors.
One of the advantages of Brackets is their clean and modern appearance. In addition, Brackets also supports various operating systems such as Mac OS, Windows, and Linux.
This application also has exciting features such as highlighting, various keyboard shortcuts, and a no-distraction mode. Split-screen is also available to edit multiple documents at one time. Brackets is an open-source text editor that makes it easy to design in the web browser.
The text editor is designed from the ground up for web designers and front-end developers. It’s a free tool with plenty of extensions that can be used to expand the features of the text editor. The ‘working file’ area can open all files in a single project. You can also change the appearance of Brackets from dark to light mode and vice versa. Alternatively, you can get additional themes from the extension manager.
4. Geany :
If Windows has Notepad++, Linux has Geany. This is an alternative text editor that is owned by Linux. Geany is a lightweight text editor, just like Notepad++. Geany only requires the GTK+ runtime library to run.
Even though it’s lightweight, there are some Geany features that you can take advantage of. Some of them are syntax highlighting, code folding, auto-completion programming, code navigation, etc. In addition, this application also supports various programming languages such as C, Java, PHP, HTML, Python, and others.
5. Sublime Text:
Sublime Text is included in a text editor that supports various operating systems such as Windows, Mac, and Linux. So it doesn’t matter if you’re working on app development using several different operating systems.
Linux is the most compatible operating system with Sublime Text, and its performance is maximized on this operating system. A sublime Text search function can work more optimally on Linux because there are
Another advantage of Sublime Text is that it is fast and usable even on devices with small resources. Sublime Text also allows you to add features by installing plugins. You can install several plugins if you have enough resources.
Sublime Text you can use for free with a time limit. However, Sublime Text also provides premium features that you can only use if you make a payment. It costs around 70 US Dollars to get a full license.
An extensible, customizable, free/libre text editor and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing.
Emacs is a text editor that is quite popular for Linux users around the world. This application was first developed in 1976 by the GNU Project, which Richard Stallman founded.
Emacs is written using Lisp and the C programming language. Despite these limitations, Emacs has quite a lot of features, such as a debugger display, email, and news. Uniquely in this application, there is a file manager that you can use to play Tetris. Apart from that, Emacs also supports Subversion, git, hg, and more.
7. Light Table:
Light Table is an integrated development environment for software engineering developed by Chris Granger and Robert Attorri. It features real-time feedback allowing instant execution, debugging, and access to documentation. The instant feedback provides an execution environment intended to help develop abstractions.
Light Table is known for its powerful editing and plugin manager that lets you execute, debug, and access codes in an easy way. So, we assume that it is worth a try.
Light Table is considered a highly modern and innovative text editor. This editor can be easily customized, and even we can embed graphics and see in real-time the result of a specific code.
A bluefish is a free software advanced text editor with a variety of tools for programming and website development.
BlueFish is a multi-platform text editor that you can also use on various operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS, and Linux. Even so, this application is more optimal on the Linux operating system.
Vim is a free and open-source, screen-based text editor program. It is an improved clone of Bill Joy’s vi. Vim’s author, Bram Moolenaar, derived Vim from a port of the Stevie editor for Amiga and released a version to the public in 1991. Vim is arguably a fairly enduring text editor. This application was introduced in 1991 and is one of the best text editors.
If you are a Linux user, you must be familiar with this application. Yes, Vim is Linux’s built-in text editor, which is often helpful for opening and editing lines of code in files. Vim’s very simple interface (using the CLI ‘Command-Line Interface) is quite confusing for new users. But speaking of speed, there is no question. Vim is one of the best editors, which is very lightweight.
You can use this application for free with various features. Vim supports thousands of programming languages, such as bash script, C, and PHP. Vim also has an edit history log which can help to go back to the beginning when something goes wrong. You can check whether or not Vim is present on the device using the “vim” command in the CLI (Terminal or CMD).
10. Visual Code Studio:
Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor made by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring,
In addition to Notepad, another text editor worked on by Windows is Visual Code Studio. Visual Code Studio’s appearance is quite interesting, with some unique ornaments there. Visual Code is a free and powerful text editor. You’ll love it too. This Visual Code provides a feature that can autocomplete the lines of code that you write. In addition, many additional features can make you comfortable to use.