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Top 5 Text Editors for Mac
Text editing is a very important part of a developer’s life. This is even more significant for Mac developers, who are accustomed to a captivating environment. For them, there is a good selection of software. Here below, is a description of five top text editors for Mac. For each of them, the highlights and downsides are detailed.
1. UltraEdit
UltraEdit is a commercial software that has been in the market since 1994. However, it has a free trial period of 15 or 30 days, depending on usage. It is well received amongst developers, and in 2006 Softpedia considered it as excellent.
UltraEdit stands out because of its multiple features, which are true aids to development. These features include many editing tools, such as automation via macros and scripts, configurable syntax highlighting, code folding, file type conversions, regular expression find and replace, column edit mode, and Unicode and hex editing mode. These utilities are complemented with an interface for APIs.
In addition, UltraEdit has functionality for comparing files, file encryption and decryption, remote editing via FTP, and project management.
Overall, UltraEdit is a best text editor for Mac as its comprehensive collection of utilities are a definite aid to any developer.
2. Brackets
Brackets is an open source and free text editor, initially created by Adobe Systems, and at present maintained on GitHub. It has been available since 2014, and it is regularly updated. This text editor Mac is written in HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It is cross platform, and aimed at Web Development.
This free text editor Mac has an impressive set of functionalities. They include Quick Edit, which allows for inline editing of CSS, Color Property, and JavaScript elements; and Live Preview, which puts code edits instantly to the browser, presenting an updated webpage as the code is changed. Live Preview is based on a Node.js backend, which predicts what the code does as the developer types the code.
Other popular functions include element highlighting, where elements selected in HTML and CSS files are highlighted within the browser; and Split View, which creates splits of windows either vertically or horizontally.
Brackets supports multiple file formats, covering over 38 file types, including C++, C, VB Script, Java, JavaScript, HTML, Python, Perl, and Ruby.
In addition, this free text editor Mac includes a feature named PSD lens, which enables the extraction of pictures, logos and design styles from PSD files without the need of opening Photoshop. Brackets richness is enhanced by its extensions, which empowers users to create additional functionality.
Summarizing, Brackets presents a popular and great choice, which in addition to being free, has many very useful features for code development.
3. Komodo Edit
Komodo Edit is an open source free text editor Mac, with a very good user interface that makes it useful for writing code and other things. This app has several useful tools for editing, such as the capacity to track changes, autocomplete, multiple section, skin and icon sets, and a markdown viewer.
Coupled with them, are multi-language support, a friendly toolbox, commando, and a projects and places manager. This editor is an offprint of the well-known Komodo IDE, from where it inherits many of its good characteristics.
Overall, it is a very professional and complete tool, with an interface that stands out. In addition, it is free and open source, meaning that the code is available to anyone wanting to use it.
4. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a commercial text editor Mac. However, it offers an evaluation version for unlimited time, making it free in practice. Currently it is in version 2, with a beta version 3.
This editor comes with a Python Application Programming Interface (API), and supports many languages. Besides, its functionality can be enhanced via plugins, typically developed by communities and available under free software licenses.
Sublime Text has a user friendly interface, with 22 different themes to choose from. Amongst its most interesting features is the distraction free mode, which consists of having only the text in the center of the screen.
Other functionalities are an advanced customization capacity, based on simple JSON files; and split editing, which can be done with two different files or with different parts of one file.
In brief, its quick navigation to files and lines, its cross-platform support, and project-based preferences, make this app being frequently rated as “best text editor for Mac”.
5. Atom
Atom is a free and open source text editor Mac, written in Node.js and embedded in GitControl. It can be used as a plain text editor Mac, or a source code editor. Through the use of plug-ins, this app supports many languages such as HTML, CSS, C/C++, Objective-C, Java, Go, C#, JavaScript, Python, PHP, Perl, XML, Mustache, Clojure, Ruby, and several more, making it a useful tool for the modern developer.
Some of its useful characteristics include multi-tabbed editing, auto-completion, multiple panes, a file system browser, good navigation options, and a package manager. In addition, a very important feature of Atom is the availability of virtually thousands of free packages, which completely increases its functionality.
Its user interface is friendly, and it comes with several themes that permit the user to select a visual environment of his liking.
In general, Atom presents a wise choice, particularly for MEAN web developers.
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We have evaluated over 20 free HTML editors for Macintosh against over 40 different criteria relevant to professional web designers and developers. The following applications are the best free HTML editors for Macintosh, both WYSIWYG and text editors, rated from best to worst. Each editor listed will have a score, percentage, and a link to more information.
Best Code Editor For Mac 2017
Best Value: Komodo Edit
What We Like
Lots of add-ons available.
Built-in FTP client.
Auto-complete and syntax checking features.
What We Don't Like
Slow to load.
Feels cluttered.
Difficult to install color schemes.
Komodo Edit is hands down the best free XML editor available. It includes a lot of great features for HTML and CSS development. Plus, if that isn't enough, you can get extensions for it to add on languages or other helpful features (like special characters).
Komodo Edit is not the best HTML editor out there, but it is great for the price, especially if you build in XML. I use Komodo Edit every day for my work in XML, and I use it a lot for basic HTML editing as well. This is one editor I'd be lost without.
There are two versions of Komodo: Komodo Edit and Komodo IDE.
Best for JavaScript Developers: Aptana Studio
What We Like
Integrated debugger.
Build-in Code Assist feature for tags.
Built-in terminal emulator.
What We Don't Like
No longer in development.
Minimal support for PHP.
Some dependencies.
Aptana Studio offers an interesting take on website development. Instead of focusing on HTML, Aptana focuses on the JavaScript and other elements that allow you to create rich internet applications.
One thing I really like is the outline view that makes it really easy to visualize the document object model (DOM). This makes for easier CSS and JavaScript development.
If you are a developer creating web applications, Aptana Studio is a good choice.
A Full Featured Java IDE: NetBeans
What We Like
Version 9.0 released by Apache after acquisition.
Supports the Jigsaw Module system.
Supports Java Shell, new in JDK 9. https://ninfinance.netlify.app/srt-editor-for-mac-free.html.
What We Don't Like
Needs high-memory computer to run quickly.
Not many plug-ins.
Auto-completion is buggy.
NetBeans IDE is a Java IDE that can help you build robust web applications. Like most IDEs, it has a steep learning curve because they don’t often work in the same way that web editors do. But once you get used to it you’ll be hooked.
One nice feature is the version control included in the IDE which is really useful for people working in large development environments. If you write Java and web pages this is a great tool.
Best for LAMP Developers: Bluefish
What We Like
Auto-completion and auto-tag closing.
Powerful search and replace.
Quick to start and load files.
What We Don't Like
Best Python Code Editor For Mac
Not for novice programmers.
User interface looks intimidating.
Too many tabs and toolbars.
Bluefish is a full-featured web editor for Linux. There are also native executables for Windows and Macintosh. There is code-sensitive spell check, autocomplete of many different languages (HTML, PHP, CSS, etc.), snippets, project management, and auto-save.
It is primarily a code editor, not specifically a web editor. This means that it has a lot of flexibility for web developers writing in more than just HTML, but if you’re a designer by nature you might not like it as much.
A Powerful Multi-Language IDE: Eclipse
What We Like
Robust debugging and profiling profile.
Code-completion feature.
Fast deployment and implementation.
What We Don't Like
Slow when working with large files.
Not recommended for large businesses.
Steep learning curve for novice programmers.
Eclipse is a complex, Open Source development environment that is perfect for people who do a lot of coding on a variety of platforms and with different languages.
Eclipse is structured as plug-ins, so if you need to edit something just find the appropriate plug-in and go.
It also comes with advanced features that will provide total conveniencefor all users. Blender is an free video editing software for Mac and free 3D rendering program, which features the best list of animationessentials such as modeling, rigging, interface, animation, shading, UV unwrapping, real time 3D gamecreation, and so on. But,with its user-friendly interface, you won't need to study numerous tutorials. However, for non-tech savvy people, you might find some of its functions confusing. Preplay video editor for mac.
If you are creating complex web applications, Eclipse has a lot of features to help make your application easier to build. There are Java, JavaScript, and PHP plugins, as well as a plugin for mobile developers.
A Swiss Army Knife IDE from Mozilla: SeaMonkey
What We Like
Tabs for WISIWYG editing, HTML tags, HTML code, and browser views.
Suitable for building simple, basic websites.
What We Don't Like
Composer element no longer being maintained.
Generates HTML 4.01 Transitional code.
SeaMonkey is the Mozilla project all-in-one internet application suite. It includes a web browser, email and newsgroup client, IRC chat client, and Composer, the web page editor.
One of the nice things about using SeaMonkey is that the browser is built-in, so testing is a breeze. Plus it's a free WYSIWYG editor with an embedded FTP client to publish your web pages.
A Basic HTML Writer: Amaya
What We Like
Useful for up to HTML 4.01.
Supports SVG and MathML.
What We Don't Like
Last updated in 2012.
No longer in development.
Amaya is the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) web editor and web browser. It validates the HTML as you build your page and displays your Web documents in a tree structure, which is useful for learning to understand the DOM.
Amaya has a lot of features that most web designers won’t ever use, but if you want to be certain that your pages follow the W3C standards, this is a great editor to use.
Straightforward and Stable: BBEdit 12
What We Like
Supports HTML5.
Opens large files.
Great customer support.
Rock-solid software.
What We Don't Like
Advanced features require paid version after 30-day free trial.
Must search menus for features and options.
BBEdit is a paid program that has a set of free capabilities (the same capabilities that the now-defunct TextWranger had. While Bare Bones Software, the makers of BBEdit do offer a paid version, you may find the free version does everything you need. You can review a feature comparison here.
Note
If you're using TextWrangler, it is not compatible with macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). However, the free (and paid) version of BBEdit is.