Code editors for Windows are numerous, but it seems that only a few of them are really worth using. After all, it can take a while to really get into the groove of an editor and tweak all the settings to your tastes, so you'd better find one you like!
I should mention that the features I've called out for each editor are only the prominent ones; obviously, there are many more. Also, just because I've mentioned a feature on one editor and not another doesn't mean the second one doesn't have the feature. So let's get to it! I've arranged them from least to most expensive.
Notepad++
- http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net
- v 5.3.2 | Free
This is probably the best free text editor for Windows out there; with support for simple things—like syntax highlighting and folding—all the way up to FTP, Notepad++ should tick most of the boxes. I've used the editor as my main editor quite a bit, and one of my favourite features is File Status Auto-detection: when NP++ is made the active program, it will check all currently open files for changes and let you know if any file has been updated / deleted. Notepad++ is based on the Scintilla editing component.
JEdit
- http://jedit.org
- v 4.20 | Free
Jedit is rather ugly in my opinion, but it has a decent feature set; as a Java program, it's actually multi-platform. It offers syntax highlighting for over 130 languages. The website says it supports folding, but I couldn't get that to work (although it does highlight the opposite bracket). Jedit has a plugin repository, which may give the editor a bit more functionality.
Notepad2
- http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
- v 3.0.20 | Free
Notepad2 is also based on the Scintilla editing engine, but it's much simpler than Notepad++. It bills itself as being fast, light-weight, and Notepad-like, and offers syntax highlighting for a variety of languages. There's no installation for this editor: just unzip and run. There are a few modified versions (with more features / languages) available.
Programmer's Notepad
- http://pnotepad.org
- v 2 0.9.926 | Free
Programmer's Notepad has a similar interface to that of Notepad2, although it does support having multiple files open at once. It supports bookmarking, folding, and highlighting, but other than that, there isn't too much to mention.
Crimson Editor
- http://www.crimsoneditor.com/
- v 3.7 | Free
Crimson Editor offers macro support and the ability to execute external programs. It has the ability to edit remote files, using a built-in FTP client; there's also a spell checker and a neat 'column select' mode.
ConTEXT
- http://www.contexteditor.org/
- v 0.98.5 | Free
ConTEXT supports many languages, both programming and human; it also gives you the ability to define your own custom languages. It does file comparing and exporting to HTML, and includes some interesting behaviour for projects. Another neat thing: ConTEXT remembers where your cursor is when you close a file, and puts it back there when you re-open the file.
SciTE
- http://gisdeveloper.tripod.com/scite.html
- v 1.77 | Free
SciTE is a really simple text editor, based on Scintilla. It's quite basic, but it does support syntax highlighting for around 30 languages and regular expression search and replace.
Editra
- http://editra.org/
- v 0.4.88 | Free
Editra claims to be in the early stages of development, but it offers a decent bunch of features: user profiles, auto-completion, session saving, and syntax highlighing for 60+ languages. Plugins can extend the feature set, offering an integrated python console, FTP client, file browser, and calculator, among others.
PSPad
- http://www.pspad.com/en/
- v 4.5.3 | Free
PSPad brings templates, an interesting internal web browser, and a macro recorder to the table. It also supports hex editing, and some degree of code compiling. PSPad offers integration with TopStyle Lite, which may come in handy if you use it for writing CSS.
RJ TextEd
- http://www.rj-texted.se/
- v 5.10 | Free
RJ TextED, too, offers integration with TopStyle Lite; and it does HTML validation and formatting. It sports an FTP client, a file browser, and a code browser, as well as a character map and support for email.
SourceEdit
- http://www.brixoft.net/prodinfo.asp?id=1
- v 4 | Free
SourceEdit includes features such as clipboard history, syntax highlighting and autocompletion for a decent set of languages. A hex editor and FTP client beef this one up a bit, too. Oh, and it does macros, too.
TotalEdit
- http://www.codertools.com/totaledit.aspx
- v 5.2 | Free
TotalEdit does file comparison, RegEx search and replace, and has multiple options for file backup / versioning. For cleanup, it offers (X)HTML and XML customizable formatting, and a spell checker. You can install TotalEdit on a USB drive, making it portable, if you want; you can also easily send the current document as an email.
Emacs
- http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
- v 22.3 | Free
"Beyond just being able to edit plain text files, Emacs includes special features to help you write in many different programming and markup language. Emacs can compare two files and highlight their differences. Emacs is a file manager. Emacs can read news, mail, and RSS feeds. You can even play tetris in Emacs. You might see now why some people consider Emacs to be not merely a text editor but almost a complete operating system. Some users find that they can do almost all of their work from within Emacs."
Vim
- http://www.vim.org/
- v 7.2 | Free
Vim is an incredibly complex text editor, more similar to Emacs than any others on our list (although Vim and Emacs users seem to be somewhat at odds ). I don't think I could do it justice in a few sentences, considering that there have been whole volumes written on it (not to mention that I have only a cursory knowledge of Vim). Suffice it to say that Vim probably has every feature mentioned in this article, and a few hundred more. For starters, check out "Vim in 6K"
Bespin
- http://bespin.mozilla.com
- v 0.2.2 | Free
I know Bespin isn't really a Windows text editor, and it hardly has the feature set that other editors do, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix just because I really like the concept of an online text editor and because it has one big (obvious) feature that the rest don't: cloud access to your code. It also offers syntax highlighting for HTML, CSS and JavaScript.
Textpad
- http://www.textpad.com/products/textpad/index.html
- v 5.2.0 | $24.70
TextPad is a rather simplistic editor: it boasts column select, drag-and-drop text between files, and hyperlink support. It also supports large files (based on the size of your virtual memory). That's it? Well, the feature list also mentions a right-click menu.
E-Text Editor
- http://www.e-texteditor.com/
- v 1.0.30 | $34.96
This is one of the most interesting editors, mainly because of the 'foreign' features it brings to Windows:
"Close integration with cygwin [a Linux-like environment for Windows] gives you access to the full range of UNIX shell tools and lets you extend e with your choice of languages like Ruby, Perl, Python and more."
Another one of e's strong points is that it accepts TextMate bundles; it also supports revision control, so you don't have to keep track of multiples versions of a file.
In-Type
- http://intype.info
- v 03.x (alpha) | currently free, to be ~ $25 – $45
Intype is a pretty neat little editor that's still in development. It currently doesn't have a whole lot of features (you can't even drag and drop text), but it looks like it will be pretty slick. It does snippets really well, and already offers a pretty wide selection, as well as supporting about two dozen languages (with support for creating additional ones). Keep an eye on this one; it's promising.
EditPlus
- http://www.editplus.com/
- v 3.10 | $35.00
EditPlus doesn't have anything unique, but there are some niceties: it highlights URLs and email addresses, activating them when you 'crtl + double-click'. It also has a built in browser for previewing HTML, and FTP and SFTP support. Macros and RegEx find and replace are good to have as well.
HippoEDIT
- http://www.hippoedit.com
- v 1.42 | $39.95
HippoEDIT offers something a bit different when it comes to autocomplete: in pops a 'tooltip' above your cursor as you type, suggesting words you've already typed. It does syntax highlighting for over 2 dozen languages, and includes code templates for many of those languages. HippoEDIT also has customizable keyboard shortcuts and workspace layouts.
UltraEdit
- http://www.ultraedit.com/products/ultraedit.html
- v 15. | $49.95
UltraEdit almost seems more like an IDE than a text editor; there are hundreds (easily thousands) of features packed into this one. Obviously reaching out to more than just web developers, UltraEdit is ultra-customizable, with different 'environments' to choose from, depending on what job you're doing. Supposedly "nearly every editing task" is automatable. UltraEdit also supports FTP and has a built-in SSH/telnet console for accessing your servers.
Sublime Text
- http://www.sublimetext.com
- v 1.05 | $59.00
Sublime Text is probably one of the most fun editors that I looked at, mainly because of its super-cool 'zoomed out' view of the file that you can pan around on. One drawback is that the preferences dialog is really just a bunch of text files; this can make it a bit difficult to tweak settings if you don't know exactly what you're looking for. I like the option to open a local file when you right-click on its link, and there are a few automation features, so this would make a solid choice of a text editor.
Extras
While reseaching for this article, I found a few other related things. First off, text editors are good for more than coding: they provide an excellent environment for writing content. To that end, you might want to check out WriteMonkey, Q10, or DarkRoom. These editors aren't very good for coding, but are great for writing copy with minimal distractions.
Then, for some interesting tips on text editing, check out the video "Seven Habits for effective Text Editing 2.0" by the creator of Vim.
That's it!
I'd love to hear what text editor you use, and why; chances are, I missed a few good ones. Let me know in the comments!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Drazen Mokic May 25th
You maybe forgot one of the best, Dreamweaver ? At the moment i am testing Intype and it is much like TextMate.
( )Sean Sumido May 25th
I wish i could download all of them, but I am already contented with Macromedia MX. (note: “Macromedia” not “Adobe”)
So, I don’t think I need new editor.
( )Matt May 26th
I agree Dreamweaver is one of the best out there. I use it everyday for pretty much all that I do. Great article BTW.
( )Singh May 26th
CS4 dreamweaver is the best so far i’ve used… looking into other smaller simple editors also….
Sean Sumido May 26th
Me, I am still using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX… It’s old-school though, but I’m very comfortable with it. If im gonna upgrade my editor, i have to be ready for any adjustments…and it takes time for to get used of it.
Jordan May 31st
I would definitely have to disagree there. Dreamweaver for the most part is for people who can’t do a lot of the coding them self half the time, and isn’t recommended for experienced programmers.
I know most web development companies around here will not hire somebody with “Dreamwaver” knowledge (even if they have a degree), just something I have seen and have run into.
It is a great tool to learn if you are a beginner though
( )Jeffrey Way June 1st
Jordan – that’s a preposterous statement.
sarmenhb June 3rd
i use dreamweaver because it colors the code for me, and displays my files to me nicely. and i dont use the gui view of the website because for one thing it doesnt work. it cant recognize css that much. so its only code view for me.
Jonas May 25th
I have recently switched from jEdit to Komodo Edit, and I’d have to say that Komodo Edit is great! It even works on both Windows and Mac.
( )tasarhane May 25th
is there any setting about vertical split for code and design view..?!
( )Morten Najbjerg May 25th
Yes Komodo Edit is really IMO the best open source choice available right now.
I’ve tried several texteditors and IDE’s – but keep comming back to this editor.
Morten Najbjerg May 25th
And to answer you question – splitting isn’t available as there’s no design view. It’s only a code editor.
Luiz Janela May 25th
Splitting is a really useful when coding. Notepad++ has it, and i really enjoy.
Sean McArthur May 26th
It enjoys split views for different files, or you can right click a tab, and click Split View, and have the file Split so you can look in 2 places at once.
But no “design” mode from Dreamweaver.
Rafał Pietrzak June 2nd
In Komodo there is split view. You just have to right-click on the tab, and select SplitView from the context menu
IRW May 25th
It really is awesome. I use Komodo more than I use Notepad ++
( )Jack F May 25th
You missed out Komodo Edit! It’s got to be one of the best out there in my opinion http://www.activestate.com/komodo_edit/
Good article though.
( )Steven October 23rd
dream weaver is the best i think
( )Prometee May 25th
I use Geany it’s a good editor, running on Win and GNU/linux
( )Dario Gutierrez May 25th
Great options! I thinks so is time to choose and try to use another editor.
( )Matt May 25th
Great list. I’m fond of InType and E myself, due to my heavy use of TextMate in the past. Though, it seems you’re missing Komodo Edit? I can’t see how a list of text editors can be complete without it. While it’s not necessarily the best to some people, it’s really powerful.
( )Melik Yuksel May 25th
I’m disappointed that you didn’t mention more about Programmer’s Notepad. I’ve found all the other editors to be slow and bloated, while PN is lightweight and great.
( )Mohamed Aslam May 25th
Hi, Nice Tutorial.
I use e-texteditor in windows. It’s really powerful. It’s a windows motivation to have a editor like foremost Mac texteditor TextMate.
There are two wonderful editors that doesn’t included in above list.
Komodo Edit – Cross platform editor. Almost support all existing languages. Happy news is, it’s totally free. Mainly Python and Perl developer prefer the IDE versions.
http://www.activestate.com/komodo_edit/
v.5.1 | Free
SlickEdit – Cross Platform editor. Although it is bit expensive, it has many advanced coding features that an experienced programmer always wished.
http://www.slickedit.com/
( )v. 2009 | $299.00
Slickedit few weeks user May 26th
Slickedit feels bloated, the only thing I can really complain is customer support.
My company bought the software for me, before any support they wanted me to provide full invoice details, my company is big, finance takes the invoices, why do you have to still provide billing details when you even have to activate the damn thing!?. This was kind of frustrating, paying so much an editor somebody in the department recomended, to me (specially after the poor support) it’s not that impresive.
( )Fausto Carrera May 25th
What about Eclipse with PHP? Works for Mac, PC and Linux and it’s open source.
( )Meshach May 25th
Would you give me a link to Eclipse?
Thanks.
( )david May 25th
eclipse.org you might also check out aptana.com which is an Eclipse plugin.
Fausto Carrera May 25th
Eclipse PHP Development Tools
http://www.zend.com/en/community/pdt
Downloads for PHP coder:
http://downloads.zend.com/pdt/all-in-one/
Michael Brennan-White May 26th
I use Eclipse on a daily basis and find it to be the best IDE i’ve ever used .
Code Folding changed my life. Yes a very sad little life it was.
I find myself dropping back into TextEdit to do quick edits because it can take some time to open up the IDE.
( )Meshach May 27th
Thanks guys
( )James May 25th
What about PHP designer? i think its awesome
( )Emil May 25th
I agree… Why isn’t PHP Designer on the list?
( )Rick May 25th
Seconded… I use phpDesigner daily and tried a few from this list but they don’t come close.
The ones I tried didn’t even let you drag and drop files into the editor, had no php code completion, no declaration lookups.
Gav May 26th
I agree – phpDesigner in my view beats the rest hand down this certainly deserves a mention if not a review
( )Richard Castera May 28th
Thumbs up for PHP Designer. The debugger is awesome!
( )Starstuff May 25th
When I was still living in the Windows world, my fav was Topstyle Pro.
( )http://www.newsgator.com/individuals/topstyle/default.aspx
Abhishek Ghose May 25th
I found JEdit really helpful when at one point of time I had to switch between Windows, Linux and Mac on a regular basis. Also at times ,for any given OS, I wouldn’t be working on the same machine I worked on before – so simply copying a jar file saved a lot on installation time.
( )arowe May 25th
I’ve been using PHPEdit for several years, and love it.
Dreamweaver is better for CSS/JS though.
( )Ethan May 25th
Very nice list! I also did notice you missed Komodo Edit, also a very useful editor.
Good resource, instead of Googling around.
( )Myfacefriends May 25th
Im using right now jEdit looks cool so far., but i will try the others here..
( )kierzniak May 25th
Maybe try to add some poll and let readers choose the best one?
( )Jack F May 25th
Also Aptana and Netbeans I think should be mentioned maybe
( )Alex May 26th
Yah, Netbeans is pretty good. I’ll usually flip between that, Komodo Edit and FlashDevelop depending on the language I’m using.
( )Evan May 25th
Aptana (Eclipse) is another one to take a look at.
( )Stephen November 14th
Yes I use aptana. It is really good. Has previews for IE and Firefox which is good because some things work in Firefox and not in IE, and vice versa.
Note: It is not WYSIWYG so no messy code!
( )obey May 25th
what about aptana studio ?
( )i just discover it in a tutorial from this website if i remember, and it seems to me like one of the best out there, and its free
http://aptana.com/
it has lots features , maybe too much )
still got a lot of things to learn, but so far i enjoy working on it
Stephen November 14th
Yes Aptana Studio is very good. I wish they had included it.
( )Brian May 25th
I would include Aptana in this list. Perhaps a bit complex compared to the other options. But I’d say it would fit in well.
( )Jeffrey Way May 25th
I think the author was trying to stay away from full IDEs like Dreamweaver, Aptana, Visual Web Developer, etc.
Maybe someone should submit a follow-up tutorial!
( )IRV May 25th
I think you’re right. The author is only mentioning code editors, not IDE’s. Aptana Studio, Eclipse and Netbeans are very powerfull tools but if you only want to read a file and change some specific parts of it or just to create some basic coding a code editor will be more usefull (and they allow you to edit a huge variety of languages as well, for example you can’t edit ASP or LISP in Netbeans, but notepad++ does recognize the syntaxis).
Personally, I find notepad++ the most usefull now, cause I’m not needing other functions as project management, HTML preview or snippets (I use Texter because it works in all editors xD), but will download Komodo Edit and try it ^^
( )Muhammad Adnan May 25th
yes , full IDEs are good than that .. i like DW
( )Crysfel May 25th
Eclipse and notepad++
( )Ben May 25th
Dreamweaver is always overlooked. Im not sure why. Its great. It does everything you need.
You always seem to think its a newbies tool because of the designer tab; but this is not the case at all.
( )James Tryon May 27th
I Love Dreamweaver CS4 – built in SVN, and a way to search the server and get any newer files when you dont have svn or ssh. pulse almost every thing else listed.
I have been using Dreamweaver for about 7 years now off and on. It has came such a long way. I only use the code view to code, but there is a great use for the design view. Open the file in design view click some ware and then click the code view and your cursor will be in the same place in the code as it was in the design view. if you height light something same thing happens. Its Great.
But never use dreamweavers crap code it generates. Its so UGLY.
( )Patrick May 25th
Netbeans definely missing.
But i think, Notepad++ is the best for all scriptlanguages, especially für quickediting or small projects. For larger projects, its better to use Netbeans.
( )Omi May 25th
E-textedtor, Aptana, Eclipse, notepad++,
( )Rainman May 25th
Editplus is the best for me. It’s customizable, fast and light-weight. With not too much configuration, you can turn it into a great tool for most of your development work, really convenient.
( )a9udn9u May 25th
+1
I’ve used EditPlus for more than 6 years, it is beautifully balanced between feature set and speed.
( )mary May 25th
I’ve tried all the free ones you listed and a couple of the paid ones and I always end back at Komodo Edit. I always keep Notepad++ installed and use it sometimes but for the most part I swear by Komodo Edit!
( )Abdurrahman Gemei May 25th
Intype is hands down my favourite. It is just so simple and launches real quick. I am definitely buying the final release as it seems to have a great feature list ahead.
( )lookynator May 25th
Very nice list! Good job. I like use now Intype (Windows free textmate)
( )Chris May 25th
Komodo Edit is the best free Windows editor hands down. I had used Notepad++ for the longest time, but then I found Komodo. I’ve since not switched to any other editor.
( )Suhanto Chang May 25th
I’m using intype as my editor, and never know this much editor before. Great option here.
( )yedpodtrzitko May 25th
There’s missing EmEditor ( http://www.emeditor.com/ ). It was my favorite editor, while I have been using Windows. Now I’m using Netbeans.
( )Farooq May 25th
just simple east or west notepad++ is the best.
( )blizzy May 25th
I miss EmEditor…
( )Heather May 25th
If not Notepad, I usually use Aptana. I might have to give a few of these others a try though!
( )djn May 25th
I agree Notepad++ is far away ahead of the rest of the pack – but I’m worried about the version number you cite as the latest. Either you mistyped it or I want that 5.3.2 right now!
( )Nathan May 25th
Windows editors are so damn ugly. All of these are hideous. Windows needs a Coda or Espresso badly.
( )Nykeri May 25th
dude we all know this, and i dont think there all ugly its only that coda and expresso are so visually exceptional and i kinda agree with you but notepad++ and komodo edit for life
( )Lamin Barrow May 25th
I have to agree with you on that.. all these free tools kinda look realy bad design wise but have you seen Aptana or Visual Studio? They are AWESOME!
( )Matthijn Dijkstra May 26th
Visual Studio aint bad, but ‘Aptana’ does not look awesome, it has some nifty features though. I switched from Aptana to Espresso on the Mac and I simply love Espresso, updated pretty regularly.
The only features I miss now is ‘live syntax check’ (there is a ‘non-live’ syntax check in Espresso, but that is quite useless), and code completion for own classes like Aptana, that is really good.
Nykeri May 25th
why are ppl complaining bout aptana, netbeans, dreamweaver and other IDEs ithought this was a list on basic editors and dude i agree with your list and #1 notepad++ rules and ive also seen that some even mentioned komodo edit as well and i must say that it is a step up for those who used npp only prob with it is that it takes a while to open
( )bullardino May 25th
Yes, it’s slower than npp, but it still is quite faster than any IDE
( )Julian July 27th
Komodo Edit takes “a while to open”? That’s like saying humans took “a while to evolve”. I’ve got a fast machine with buckets of RAM and I’ve seen glaciers advance faster than Komodo launches. Yes, once it gets going it’s quite a decent editor, but by then you’ll be in your old age and won’t be able to focus on the screen any more.
Also, Komodo adds “Edit with Komodo” to every drop down on your machine and then forgets to remove it when you delete the app. Classy.
( )Jon Gibbins May 25th
Here’s another vote for Textpad. Piece of cake to use and very customisable for people who are used to Mac, Linux, Windows environments.
( )I’m not a veteran of any other editor but this program has answered all my needs in the last 4 years or so!
bullardino May 25th
My preferred one is Komodo edit. The code suggestion is great and very useful.
( )Ümit Ünal May 25th
Forever Intype.
( )I recommend.
mazzjoe May 25th
try Geany, it’s free and open source, and a good piece of software (the developers don’t pay me for this
)
( )Marcin May 25th
I use both Notepad++ and UltraEdit 15. Notepad++ is mainly for quick edits (actually, it opens a number of files by default in my system). However, nothing beats UltraEdit for serious editing. Whatever job is at hand, there’s a way to automate it with UltraEdit.
( )Jordan May 25th
My preferred editors are Aptana and InType. I was a loyal fan of Notepad++ for quite some time, but eventually was just not satisfied with what it had to offer, and then I came across InType randomly.
My favorite was also finding a reference list of Textmate themes ported over to InType.
( )Paolo May 25th
You could consider bluementals webuilder which is a kind of Coda for windows.
( )http://www.blumentals.net/
emonweb May 25th
Any panic CODA alternative? CODA is the best for small/medium projects…
( )sam May 25th
Visual Web Developer Express (http://www.asp.net/vwd/) is free and kicks serious ass..
( )Web010 May 25th
I tried few editors, you mentioned only one of them – Notepad++.
But my favorite is NuSphere phpED
http://www.nusphere.com/
It’s 299$ (currently on discount it’s 209$) which is 4 times more expensive then “the most expensive” from your list, but it’s worth it.
( )mmirold May 25th
you should definitely take a look at slickedit. it’s ridiculously
( )expensive (>250$), but I’ve never come across an editor
that is more flexible and customizable. and – but this doesn’t
necessarily come as a surprise – it’s way faster than e.g eclipse
Jonathan Aquino May 25th
I’m a big jEdit fan. To turn on code-folding, go to Utilities > Global Options > Editing > Folding Mode and choose “indent”.
( )Jonathan Aquino May 25th
Also here are my favorite jEdit features:
( )http://jonaquino.blogspot.com/2007/08/why-jedit-text-editor-rocks.html
Craigsnedeker May 25th
Wheres EDITPAD?!?! It rocks!
( )Stacy Spear May 26th
Agreed! It is pretty much all I use know for editing. Love its regex, ability to handle large files, and it is pretty fast, even on 100MB files.
( )Haris May 25th
This is definitely (a good) list of basic text editors for windows.
IDEs like netbeans, eclipse and etc are far more superior and provide more features that benefits and satisfied an intermediate/advanced user.
I myself have used notepad++, scite, crimson and e-texteditor and I was never satisfied with them when I reached the point where rapid development was an important aspect of my business.
IDEs definitely helps a lot with its auto-complete support and the built-in debugging tools.
( )Mojo May 25th
great post, Notepad2 all the way
( )harold May 25th
Has anyone got any experience with a good editor for Windows 7?
Aptana doesn’t seem to be loving it so gotta find a new editor with good php / js hinting…
cheers!
( )suciu vlad May 25th
E-Texteditor and intype rules
( )demogar May 25th
I’m a E-Text editor user….. and it rocks really much!
( )glpunk May 25th
For Flash Developers:
http://www.flashdevelop.org/
Very very nice text editor, excelent support for as2, as3, and general flash IDE
( )Alex May 26th
It also has some of the best code hinting/autocomplete features of any text editor/ide I’ve used.
( )michael May 25th
TextPad is pretty great… a few other features i like it for:
– assign shortcut keys to run commands (like compile and run java, javadoc)
– clip library
– compare files
– hugely customisable
– match brackets
– huge library of syntaxes (you can add more too)
but it is lacking some pretty basic things like code folding. and its not free and notepad++ can probably do all of this and more
( )Brad K. May 25th
I still use the pre-Java Arachnophilia 4.0 text editor. I like the simple interface, the regular expression search and replace, and it is light on resources.
( )Radoslav May 25th
whitch one of them helps you write the rest of the code like dreamweaver when you start typing somthing and comes up with different options and you can just choose one rather than keep writing wrong?
( )vj May 25th
What’s the best editor for python in a windows environment. I am getting tired of using the pythonwin that comes with activestate python.
( )david May 26th
try drpython, i like it
( )david May 26th
notepad++ or crimson is good too… i like crimson mainly because it has a directory browser built into it… notepad++ has more features but no directory browser.
( )Diego SA May 25th
great!
( )Dels May 25th
Vote +1 for Notepad++ since i have used it since i was in university (5 years ago?)
( )Wez May 25th
This has to be the lamest article that has been posted to net tuts.
There are a lot of other great editors that have been missed out and the descriptions for each editor are brief and don’t provide a lot of information.
( )Jé Maverick May 25th
Notetab? Where is it? Some good editors here, but there are better!
( )T-Law May 25th
Great list, thanks.
( )Nikhil May 25th
I like the list. I have never used most of them….
But i like to use visual editor most…
( )Dicky May 25th
I am using Notepad++ because it is powerful and fast. You can even download different color style that meet you own needs!
( )Daniel Máslo May 26th
emeditor
( )Desu May 26th
I am using Notepad++, but wanna try Komodo too
( )Martin Haakansson May 26th
Gotta say .. One of the things I love about Dreamweaver (apparently not on list, but worth mentioning) is the fact that DW automatically opens up all externaly added files, such as .css and .js ..
But after reading through this article, i’ve set my love on Sublime Text .. I love the little Navigator scroll bar on the left side.
( )Paolo May 26th
@wez
( )For python you can try Komodo wich exists in free and pro version or wingide
piWer May 26th
Eclipse PDT with Xdebug and Intype for html, css files
( )maltzurra May 26th
Anyone mentioned Zend Studio Professional? When it’s about advanced projects it comes to be the best by far.
It’s not for free though.
( )Agam360 May 26th
What About Devunity(http://www.devunity.com/)?
( )The y have a cool online text editor that you could share with friends and code LIVE!!
I liked it.
Milo May 26th
You forgot to mention most of the exciting features in PSPad like FTP and Projects…
( )Austin June 6th
Indeed. That prog amazes me time and time again…
( )Hbiloo May 26th
I almost use the Eclipse editor. I like the refactor functions in it which are very useful and great.
( )Shall we also get a post about the best code editors for Mac?
Japh May 26th
Great list, thanks! One glaring omission, as has been mentioned previously in the comments, is Komodo Edit. Free and runs great (in my experience) on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux (Ubuntu).
For those who may not know, Komodo Edit does provide a kind of “live preview” split view, which is quite useful. Just provide it with your development server URL, and when you save it refreshes for you etc. Handy!
( )Dusan May 26th
I’m using e-texteditor. It’s awesome but sadly it’s still buggy. Komodo is also great, and so is Notepad++
( )ernst May 26th
which one of those does have the option to display a folder/file tree on a sidepane (like in explorer). sorry, but i don’t have time to test every, it would be great if someone could answer me. just looking for something like textmate under windows. no complicated “new project” – “add files to project” – etc. my project is a folder and i want to open that folder.
( )thanks.
Dusan May 26th
e-texteditor, it even claims to be “textmate for windows”
( )Phil May 27th
I just looked at EmEditor, and it appears to have the features you are looking (and a lot of others). I’ve used Notepad Pro in the past, but EmEditor seems to have much more functionality.
( )Dr.9 May 26th
EmEditor is another nice choice.
( )John Deszell May 26th
I primarily use Dreamweaver, but Notepad++ and Crimson Editor are pretty good.
Now if I didn’t have a copy of Dreamweaver with CS I definitely wouldn’t drop the cash on it. Not worth it when compared to the other free choices.
( )JC Reus May 26th
Agreed. Dreamweaver is a fantastic editor, but so are a lot of these free ones.. while DW might be a little bit stronger, I wouldn’t say it’s $200 stronger.
( )Rob Lang May 26th
Programmer’s Notepad 2 does allow you to have multiple files open at once. I have tried 17 of the editors on the list and I’m sticking with Programmer’s Notepad.
( )david May 26th
andrew, here is a great editor for those who like really light-weight stuff and enjoy using vi like i do!
it’s called winvi or winvi32
http://www.winvi.de/en/
( )David May 26th
Notepad2 / InType are probably the only ones I use, I wish InType could reach a final release but it seems a bit far sadly! Once InType brings more features I’ll be changing editors (from notepad2 to intype, for big projects I just use Netbeans)
As for jEdit being ugly wasn’t there an option to change the swing look and feel to GTK/windows ? I remember using it but can’t recall the memory
( )amidude May 26th
Homesite+…FTW!! I know that Adobe hides it on their site and has integrated many of it’s features into DW but I just can’t get away from it. It rocks. I’m old…sorry.
( )Darioz July 2nd
I would stick to HS forever (select full tag, no one has it!!)
( )But it has some major bugs on UTF-8 file editing…a big issue if you work with XML/XSL
Robert Virding May 26th
Emacs of course. It can do anything and everything, even be an IDE if that is your persuasion.
( )Thad May 26th
Nvu is worth a mention
( )Anton Agestam May 26th
What about Eclipse?
( )Brad D May 26th
I know it has been said a bunch already, but you missed Komodo Edit. I switched from Notepad++ to it a couple months ago and haven’t looked back. It is brilliant.
Auto complete, remote file access, and custom themes are so great. It is very light weight and quick too.
( )kas187 May 26th
I’m an intype user and love it! I’ve customized is so much that i have my own set of snippets which i just trigger with key combos. It does have a few basic things missing but most of them should be implemented on the next release.
As for dreamweaver, well to me its just too much – i can’t justify loading an app thats over 100meg to do build sites and apps.
( )aageboi May 26th
notepad++
( )Nick May 26th
Used Dreamweaver (all versions) for years. Tried several of the above mentioned, but found e-texteditor to be the best. E is lightweight, affordable, and has great features. The ability to highlight multiple words and edit, and edit multiple lines at one time is simply amazing.
Also used Aptana on PC and Mac, but found it too bloated. Thanks E!
( )Peace4man May 26th
Very helpful I personnaly use eclipse and NetBeans IDEs for every thinks I do, it Support pretty much every langage ….
( )Carl - Web Courses Bangkok May 26th
I must admit to using Dreamweaver for most of my code but there is one editor that really impresses me and I am surprised that it wasn`t mentioned; the Web Developer Tool Bar for Fire Fox.
The main feature I like is the editor for css, as you change the css using the Web Developer Tool Bar, it actually makes live changes to the HTML you see. This is fantastic when you need to do the task of lining everything up pixel perfect….left a bit, right a bit…is a lot easier when you see it change instantly.
Come on editors, can you give us something like this?
( )lawrence77 May 26th
wow great list thanks….
( )Didn’t know 20 of them
Dave May 26th
Andrew,
Thanks!!!! I just read your article yesterday, and I decided to try Notepad++. I’m already 2/3 done with a small project using it, and you’re right, it’s hot.
I had actually been using PSPad, which is quite nice, but it will crash in certain circumstances, and the new one is definitely nicer.
I really appreciate the good ideas!!!!!
( )Rafael R.P (Raff) May 27th
I still use dream weaver but thx
( )A guy May 27th
Cool thing about VIM is everything in vim is/can be operated by the keyboard, that’s what makes it special. If you get good you can move really fast I got to admit. It does take a while to learn though.
( )spyke01 May 27th
I’ve used several apps but i mainly use HomeSite 5 for the extended replace feature. If Aptana studio or some of the others i’ve tried had this feature I would go with them.
Anyone know of an editor with this feature besides HomeSite? If so I’d be willing to give it a shot.
( )kansel May 29th
The Homesite feature I can’t live without is “Select Tag” (Select Full Tag in 5, with worse context menu placement). Not only useful for selecting large chunks of deeply nested code, when it fails to select it exposes broken code making debugging easier.
I haven’t found this functionality in any free editor nor have I found references to other non-free editors including it.
( )Filip Bartoš May 27th
I was using PSpad and Notepad++ for a long time, but then I found Intype.. It’s really friendly editor and it’s still “only” 0.3.x . My second favorite is Sublime Text, respect for author
( )Diego Machado May 27th
VIM + snippetsEmu + NerdTREE !
You guys should try and persevere !
( )Adam May 27th
UltraEdit is the best
( )Kaustubh May 27th
HTML Kit…also a nice one.
( )Lau May 28th
Awesomesauce!
( )c0de May 29th
I’ve been using Editplus since it’s first version, I absolutely adore it!
EDITPLUS > ALL
( )Adam May 30th
I am a big fan of the Geany editor. It’s small, lightweight, fast, and works with many languages and multiple platforms (Linux/Windows).
( )Jon May 30th
For anyone checking out Sublime Text, I strongly recommend looking at the current beta version (www.sublimetext.com/beta) – it has project support and an updated interface, among other things.
( )Doug June 2nd
Well i use notepad++ its great, but i will try this komodo edit…..
( )Tom June 2nd
Why does Intype always get a mention? I don’t understand how people like this editor. It ’s been in beta since 2006 guys, it’s going no where. Plus it lacks so many basic features in comparison to other editors.
( )Greg June 2nd
I’ve been using Notepad++ for a long while now, but I’m going to give Komodo a try due to the recommendations in the comments section!
( )Arif Bin Forhad June 3rd
WOw!!
( )Allahverdi June 5th
Each IDE / Code editor has it’s own pros and cons. I used a lot of code editors / IDEs (Zend, Visual Studio, PHPDesigner, Eclipse, Dreamweaver, Aptana, CSSEdit, Coda and etc.). I work Dreamweaver/CSSEdit/Coda on mac and only dreamweaver on win. Eclipse and aptana are good too, but i love that 3.
( )wildpetals June 9th
Well.. Don’t forget Boxer! http://www.boxersoftware.com/pgbwin.htm for years and years this has been really great.
( )phoenix June 10th
Not to jump on what is otherwise a great article, but you forgot Aptana Studio. It’s based on Eclipse and the SWT and offers a good free alternative to Dreamweaver, with project management and other resources.
( )romlie June 14th
i used Dreamweaver for PC and AlleyCode HTML Editor for portable. It’s all great. this article is Great … nice jobs
( )craig June 16th
Go for Dreamweaver cs4, you will never go back.
( )Gilberto Ramos June 23rd
E-TextEditor is excellent! I use it instead of an IDE (but for not-so-big-projects)
( )Dave June 28th
I was looking here to see if there might a new editor worth checking out. If your evaluation of Textpad is an example, you’ve not spent much time looking at these applications.
Textpad includes:
( )Macros
Clip (snippet) libraries- dozens available
Self configurable document classes
Microsft keystroke compatibility, if you want it
Spell checker
Find in Files – use this to search whole folders for existence of text
Regex search and replace in 2 flavors
Tabbed interface
User-defined syntax highlighting -dozens available
User defined Custom external tools
Bookmarking
Berogra June 29th
I currently use Notepad++, and I like it, except for the fact that it is annoying to customize the colours. After reading this article, I downloaded sublime text and I have to say I am very impressed. The ability to change themes is really nice, and the default theme is nice and dark. The zoomed out view really is something as well, just adds that extra element over text editors such as Notepad++. On the downside, Sublime Text isn’t free and you must edit preferences with a text file not a graphical interface.
( )Tret July 1st
test
( )dj July 1st
Do you use Notepad++ for editing xml and css? Thanks.
( )HH July 8th
Komodo Edit, because it’s the best freeware out there.
( )Thomas Magnussen July 11th
I have bought the “Sublime Text” and i just have to say that it is worth every single dollar. I recommend this application for those that want a easy, but advanced text editor. Im a happy coder now
( )Ron F. July 19th
At one time or another, since I began writing code using SED on a TOPS-20 machine, I have used most text editors available. In my view, Ultraedit is indeed the best Windows text editor, but it is not cross-platform yet. When I left Windows behind for Linux as my preferred platform for every day use, I settled on jEdit. It has a huge feature set, similar to Ultraedit, but jEdit is open source and runs on everything – a feature I value highly.
I find Komodo severely lacking, and Editra just isn’t ready yet for serious work. Eclipse mentioned above, is well … I don’t understand it – I cannot get used to it. I spent many years living in vi, but left it (and emacs) behind for good.
I presently spend 8 to 12 hours a day coding in jEdit. It puts food on the table:) Ultraedit is coming soon for Linux, but I have gotten so used to jEdit in the meantime, I probably won’t go back now.
( )jabrig July 21st
good…..
( )Bob July 28th
Notepad++ is great, although I now prefer NaviCoder Editor.
( )Raphaël August 26th
I use Aptana studio wich I love!
( )PandaMaster September 3rd
I use ActiveState Komodo Edit, i like it way better than DreamWeaver
( )Abdulquadri September 22nd
Thanks.
You need to checkout kate on GNU/Linux
( )ofer October 11th
you can read more on sublime text features, like multiple selection, python plugins, textmate snippets and theme support and much more.
http://www.virtual-clouds.com/2009/10/64/sublime-text-the-vi-modern-alternative
also see: http://sublime.akalias.net/gettingstarted/index.html for the best place to start with sublime
( )