A text editor is a piece of software that you download and install on your computer, or you access online through your web browser, that allows you to write and manage text, especially the text that you write to build a web site. The text editor has to be one of the most important tools you can use as an aspiring web developer. What features should you look for in a text editor? I would say some of the most important features are:
- code completion;
- syntax highlighting;
- a nice variety of themes (to reduce eye strain and fatigue);
- the ability to choose from a healthy selection of extensions available when you need them.
You might find some other features that are must-have’s, but I think these features are a good start.
A great feature of any text editing software is code completion.
Code completion allows you to start typing, and the code completion feature will display possible suggestions based on what you originally typed.
This saves you time by providing a choice, rather than allowing you to finish typing and possibly encounter typos.
Also, some code completion includes the closing of tags when you open them, or the closing of brackets when you open them, or the closing of quotation marks when you open them, thus making sure you’re always writing your code.
Another nice feature is being able to write your HTML and CSS more efficiently.
There is a kind of shorthand language called Emmet that can help. Emmet will speed up your code writing faster than you can imagine.
Some text editors come with Emmet built right in, or Emmet can be added by the means of an extension.
Another feature you should definitely look into is called syntax highlighting.
Syntax highlighting is a feature that takes the text you type, and makes it more noticeable by colorizing the text. Attributes are a different color than elements. And elements are a different color than copy. This makes it so much easier when you’re looking for an error and you can’t find it. As well as making your text easier to read.
NotePad++
NotePad++ is a free text editor for Windows Computers only. NotePad++ has been around for many years and many web developers swear by NotePad++. It has syntax highlighting and code completion, as well as word completion and function completion. It has a zoom in an out feature, it’s own online community, and its own chat room for questions that may arise. It even has its own searchable wiki page for more assistance
A text editor kind of gives away what it does in the title—it edits text. It also manages text, and manages files. I love that name “text wrangler” because in a way that’s what really a text editor does. It wrangles your text together into something meaningful You can think about an IDE very much like Microsoft Outlook. If you’ve ever used Microsoft Outlook, you would have quickly noticed that it was an email client, a calendar, a task manager, a to-do list all in one software package. Similar to how an IDE is an all-in-one software package. Me? I’ll stick with the text-editors I’ve mentioned above. I’ve been using them all on and off for a while, but I can’t seem to make up my mind which one I want forever and ever. What happens to me is that I’ll stick with one text editor for a while, only to find out that the others have all been updated so radically that they have new and exciting features. So, I’ll start using that updated text editor for a while, and in the meanwhile, the others will be updated. So, I’ll start using those ones. It’s a viscous cycle.