Text Editor

[billbenson]

I've been using a text editor called EditPad Pro for a few years. If you download it, you get a free trial for a month. After a month, some of the advanced features expire but it still works. Even without the advanced features its an nice little text editor.

I just rebuilt my computer and downloaded the current version. It now highlights opening and closing tags in php as well as {}, [], and (). I don't know if that feature will expire, but its a nice text editor if you want something better than notepad for free.

[vangogh]

When I was on a Windows machine I used HTML Kit. What I liked was the ability to edit real time on the server. I had to find something new when I switched to a Mac. TextMate was one of the recommended editors, but I decided to choose Coda (http://www.panic.com/coda/). I downloaded the 2 week trial and before the trial ran out I went ahead and bought a license. There are so many great features with it I knew I was going to have to buy it after a half hour using it.

I never used Notepad. Even for the most basic things I used Notepad2. There are quite a few decent text editors for Windows that are free if you find EditPad losing some of its features after the trial.

[orion_joel]

My Preference for a text editor is TextPad, does a lot of the things for coding (which i mostly didn't use), however let you have multiple files open and quickly and easily switch between. As well as line numbers which was more important for me, because when i was using it more, the main thing i was doing was inserting code for scripts.

Another option i have found myself using more recently is the code editor in Cpanel File Manager. I dont think i have had to download and edit a file for any of my sites for over a year, i do it all on the server through the web based editor.

[nighthawk]

My Preference for a text editor is TextPad, does a lot of the things for coding (which i mostly didn't use), however let you have multiple files open and quickly and easily switch between. As well as line numbers which was more important for me, because when i was using it more, the main thing i was doing was inserting code for scripts.

Another option i have found myself using more recently is the code editor in Cpanel File Manager. I dont think i have had to download and edit a file for any of my sites for over a year, i do it all on the server through the web based editor.

I have a running argument with a colleague over this program, I am a big fan of Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm)whereas he prefers TextPad. I always found textpad to be a bit of a hassle to configure - by default it doesnt seem to do syntax highlighting, you need to download a plugin to get it working, whereas Notepad++ does it straight from install.

I believe textpad is also shareware, whereas Notepad++ is free and open source. Both are probably just as good as each other, it all comes down to personal preference. But anything that is free always wins with me!

[billbenson]

I tried TextPad a few years ago and it seemed pretty similar to EditPad.

Do any of the editors mentioned flag html stuff such as missing div tags or other html errors, errors in css beyond the brackets etc?

I use zend for a php editor which works great, but it is pricy and a resource hog. My version is quite a few years old now and I'm thinking of upgrading.

[vangogh]

Another editor no one's mentioned, but is worth giving a try is UltraEdit (http://www.ultraedit.com/products/ultraedit/ultraedit_tour.html). I used it briefly, though at the time I was too cheap to pay for an editor. I did like it and came very close to buying, but there were so many free options out there I never could hand over my credit card.

[billbenson]

Probably worth mentioning as well for the non designers out there that a text editor is really an underused piece of software by many people. I have a linear text editor file. Every morning I put todays date at the bottom. If a customer calls or emails for a quote, I put it in there instead of hand written notes or sticky pads. Its probably a few thousand lines long now. If a customer calls and says he bought a part last year and wants another one I just do a search for his name. Very efficient if you are always are in front of a pc.

I even keep my costco list in there for that once a month trip to costco. Wife wants me to remember something I put it in there.

I bet a lot of people use Word for these sort of things.That works, but Word uses up a lot more memory and becomes much slower. If you don't need the formating that word supplies, a text editor is much better.

[cbscreative]

Everyone seems to have their favorite, mine is NoteTab Pro (www.fookes.com). The free version called NoteTab Light is very good too, and you never get nag screens. I bought Pro a long time ago when it was $20. It's $30 now, but the Pro has some very nice features. In fact, until I got Dreamweaver CS3, I used to use NoteTab more than DW which was always ironic considering the price difference.

[vangogh]

Everyone seems to have their favorite

Ain't that the truth. For those of us who use code editors a lot we can be passionate about which we like the most. The two applications I use most daily are browser and code editor. I tend to become very loyal to the ones I use for a variety of reasons.

[billbenson]

Ain't that the truth. For those of us who use code editors a lot we can be passionate about which we like the most. The two applications I use most daily are browser and code editor. I tend to become very loyal to the ones I use for a variety of reasons.

I find I use excel a lot as well, particularly with php coding.

[vangogh]

I still don't get why you use Excel for coding. Obviously it works for you and I think I understand why you like it, but I couldn't imagine using it that way myself. It does show how we're all passionate about certain programs. You found something that works well for you and you're certainly loyal to it.

[billbenson]

Take an update command. Its for updating the pricing on a site for an annul price change. 2k or so items. There are better ways to write the code, but this is just an example:

column A, first part of insert command.
column B, Price
column C, a little more insert command stuff
column D, cost
column E, more insert command stuff
Column F, part number
column G, rest of insert command

Drag the php down to the bottom of the new prices, copy and paste into a text editor, search for tabs and delete them, and you have 2k inserts to plop into the php price update from last year. Not the most elegant code, but it works well and takes 10 minutes to update the prices from last year.

Ya, the proper way of doing this would be to put the new data in three text files and loop through it. I just use this as an example of how excel can be used to make make a bunch of similar commands. Post data would be another example if it comes from a long form.

[vangogh]

I guess my thought would be to have the data only in the excel file and then write some code to grab that info and place on the web page. I'd probably export the excel file and import it into a MySQL database, but I can't help thinking there's a way not to have to do all the copy/paste.

I do get how you place parts of the code in the different rows and how that makes it eaier for you. I just wonder if there's an easier way for you to do it.

But sticking with the idea that got us started it does show how we become loyal to certain programs. I know I do my share of things that would probably be easier to do in another way, but I'm loyal to my way of doing things.