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| || [[https://code.visualstudio.com//Download|Visual Studio Code]] || Windows, MacOS, Linux (64bit) || closed source, free || New editor from MicroSoft. Built on Git``Hub's Electron, just like Atom || |
Unix Text Editors
Among Unix users there is great debate about the best text editor to use. The main divide is between whether to use Emacs or Vi. These are powerful programmers editors, which have tons of functionality and scriptability at the cost of a steep learning curve. For those who just want to use a basic editor or feel intimidated by Emacs and Vi there's also UW's Pico and its opensource clone GNU Nano.
Regardless, it's a good idea to at least learn the basics of Emacs and Vi. Pretty much any Unix system will have vi installed, even if they don't have any other editor. And Emacs is popular enough with people in BCS and CS here that sooner or later you will end up confronted with it.
Other Text Editors
Even if you don't want to use one of the traditional Unix text editors, it's still a good idea to use an editor more powerful and flexible than Notepad or TextEdit, particularly if you ever edit scripting or programming language files, or even HTML. All of the editors below do some sort of syntax highlighting and have at least some auto-indenting support. Some also have features like auto-complete. Most are free (as in speech and beer), a few expect you to pay eventually or offer more features in a paid version.
Recommended editors
Editor |
Platform(s) |
License |
Notes |
MacOS X (10.8 or higher), Windows 7 & 8, RedHat Linux, and Ubuntu Linux |
MIT |
Still not 1.0 (although definitely very usable), so updates are very frequent |
|
Mac (10.6.8 or higher) |
closed source, but free |
Recommended Mac editor |
|
Windows |
Recommended Windows editor |
||
Windows, Mac (10.6 or higher), and Linux |
Costs $70, but has an open ended free evaluation period with popups asking you to buy now and then |
||
MacOS X (10.6 or higher), Windows 7&8, Linux |
MIT |
From Adobe, web development focused, but general use |
|
MacOS X, Windows, and Linux |
MIT |
|
Also worth noting
Editor |
Platform(s) |
License |
Notes |
Windows, MacOS, Linux (64bit) |
closed source, free |
New editor from MicroSoft. Built on GitHub's Electron, just like Atom |
|
Mac (10.6.8 or higher) |
closed source, $49.99 |
Same base as TextWrangler, but with more features, e.g. version control integration, powerful HTML tools |
|
Windows, Mac, and Linux. |
Mix of GPL, LGPL, and MPL |
Built on top of the Mozilla platform (but a standalone app), so it's pretty heavyweight compared to the rest. And they constantly try to upsell you to KomodoIDE ($295). It is a good editor though. |
|
Linux (Gnome), Windows, Mac |
GPL |
Natively a Gnome editor, it looks like a Linux app even on Mac and Windows. Recent versions at least try to look more native. |
|
Windows, Mac, and Linux |
GPL |
Cross platform editor written in Java. Doesn't look or act native anywhere. |
|
Linux (KDE) |
|
||
Windows, Linux, MacOS |
Similar to MIT license. i.e. disclaimer and notice) |
Windows and Linux versions free, but MacOS X version is $41.99 in the Mac App Store |