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Ask DN: Front End Devs, What Code Editors Do You Use?

7 years ago from , UI Engineer. I'm a bit mean sometimes

I have been using Coda for quite some time now. When I started in the industry, the people in my office used to edit directly on the server quite a lot. We slowly transitioned to local development and now I am starting to think, that I could give another editor a try.

What are your experiences with the current code editors out there? What do you use and what do you like about it / not like about it?

Thanks!

€: A lot of responses, the majority seems be using sublime, followed by atom and brackets. A lot of people also suggested webstorm and a few are using vim.

66 comments

  • Alec LomasAlec Lomas, 7 years ago

    I use Atom. Not the fastest (especially if you're working with large files) but lots of great packages. Sublime is really great and really, really fast (and what a lot of current editors are emulating, imo), but it doesn't have integrated package management (yet) and development was stalled for quite a while allowing others to catch up.

    20 points
    • Bennett WongBennett Wong, 7 years ago

      https://packagecontrol.io/installation

      2 points
      • Alec LomasAlec Lomas, 7 years ago

        I didn't say it doesn't have package management, but that it doesn't have integrated package management. The dude behind package control just joined the ST team, so hopefully it'll come baked in to the final version of ST3.

        1 point
        • Tropical HoochTropical Hooch, 7 years ago

          What improvements would you like to see to sublime's package management?

          2 points
          • Alec LomasAlec Lomas, 7 years ago

            A lot of it just has to do with the initial cost of Package Control. Atom makes it very clear from the beginning that it's extensible -- the same can't be said for ST. Though, once (if) you find it, it works really well. Plus, being able to see trending packages/themes directly in Atom is nice.

            1 point
    • Tony Phipps, 7 years ago

      Might I add that Visual Studio Code is gaining quite some ground? It has some excellent features right out of the box. Their package management isn't quite as good as atom but it's fast catching up.

      Comes with Git integration, JavaScript debugging, JSX and React integration right out of the box. I switched very recently and have not been disappointed. Oh, and it's quick, very quick.

      2 points
      • Alec LomasAlec Lomas, 7 years ago

        I've looked at VS Code recently but haven't had time to check it out. Maybe I'll give it a try this week!

        1 point
    • Jake Lazaroff, 7 years ago

      +1 for Atom! The only time the speed really affects me is if I'm looking through the source code of a large library… I usually hop over to Sublime if I need to do that.

      0 points
    • Jonathan SimcoeJonathan Simcoe, 7 years ago

      Atom is the best!

      0 points
  • Cory Etzkorn, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Sublime. I used to be a Coda fan, but I've grown to love the extensibility of Sublime. You can add any functionality you need through the package manager. You can even change the entire UI.

    12 points
  • Martin LeeMartin Lee, 7 years ago

    Brackets.io. I used to use Coda a lot, and while it's still useful for sites that need to be edited directly, I find it lagging behind on some of the features I need.

    7 points
  • Simon LarocheSimon Laroche, 7 years ago

    Been using Vim for about a decade now. Here's a shot of some JS: http://i.imgur.com/5eQlWAI.png

    6 points
  • Jari ZwartsJari Zwarts, 7 years ago

    WebStorm, make sure to crank up the internal max RAM setting and have at least 16GB though. Not a single editor even comes close to some of WebStorm's more advanced features, even when you add a boatload of packages into Sublime/Atom.

    4 points
    • Matt CoadyMatt Coady, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

      I'm in the jetbrains family too. I use IntelliJ IDEA though, I switch between standard frontend stuff, rails and php depending on the project so it's nice to have the all in one suite.

      If I need to make a quick server side change over ftp I'll use coda though. It's one thing it does really well.

      0 points
      • Jari ZwartsJari Zwarts, 7 years ago

        Used IntelliJ as well when I was still in school (free license). Really great to be able to not need several different programs for different projects (especially when they're such memory hogs as jetbrains products tend to be) So I fully agree, sadly my boss doesn't agree with it's license price :(

        0 points
  • Daryl GinnDaryl Ginn, 7 years ago

    I'm that annoying guy that uses Vim.

    2 points
  • Nat BuckleyNat Buckley, 7 years ago

    Vim.

    2 points
  • Pasquale VitielloPasquale Vitiello, 7 years ago

    Sublime, it is sublime.

    2 points
  • Laurens SpangenbergLaurens Spangenberg, 7 years ago

    MacVim. I use it as a general text editor for everything, from screenplays to code. It's insanely customizable, only second to emacs, and it speeds up the way you edit text. Although learning how to use it can be a challenge.

    2 points
    • Rasmus ErikssonRasmus Eriksson, 7 years ago

      That "seconds to Emacs" bit can be a dangerous thing to say. Lucky this is DN. :D

      0 points
      • Laurens SpangenbergLaurens Spangenberg, 7 years ago

        I meant to say it's the second most customizable text editor. I don't think it's dangerous to say as the joke goes that "emacs is a great operating system only missing a decent editor."

        0 points
  • Andy MerskinAndy Merskin, 7 years ago

    Sublime for its speed and simplicity, beautiful themes, and amazing community packages.

    Be sure to check out the Material Theme + syntax schemes. They're lovely.

    2 points
  • Jerome Devillers, 7 years ago

    I use Sublime since a couple of years but i enjoy Atom too but the search function on Atom piss me off.

    2 points
  • Deng Hui, 7 years ago

    Webstorm

    2 points
  • Jesus Lizama, 7 years ago

    PHPStorm! Basically everything in WebStorm + support for PHP, which probably can be added with a plugin.

    Best IDE I've ever used, hands down!

    1 point
  • John Paul GiagoJohn Paul Giago, 7 years ago

    Spacemacs or Atom with the Proton plugin.

    1 point
  • Hendrik Runte, 7 years ago

    Sublime Text. I tried Atom but unfortunately it is too slow.

    1 point
  • Paul NevinPaul Nevin, 7 years ago

    Atom and Webstorm

    1 point
  • David DíazDavid Díaz, 7 years ago

    Sublime. Generally my go-to editor for pretty much anything. It's fast, extensible and cross-platform. There's a huge community following, lot's of extensions and themes to choose from. It goes from as simple as possible to as full-featured as needed.

    1 point
  • Mohd HazwanMohd Hazwan, 7 years ago

    sublime / atom ftw

    1 point
  • Jesse HoyosJesse Hoyos, 7 years ago

    Atom, although its been while since I've fired it up. Most of my time is spent in Sketch now

    1 point
  • Misel Tekinder, 7 years ago

    Mostly Atom, since it's really great and it has a lot of useful packages. I'm little disapointed bacause it's slow when you work with larger files.

    0 points
  • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Visual Studio Code

    It's based on Atom, except it has regular and signifigant releases. It has code completion, split windows and all other features you'd expect in a modern and serious editor.

    Every release gets better.

    15 year editor history:

    • Atom
    • Sublime 2/3
    • TextMate
    • BBEdit
    0 points
  • Chas SChas S, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    TextMate 2. It was worth the wait. TM1 continued to work just fine in the mean time.

    0 points
  • Jason EtcovitchJason Etcovitch, 7 years ago

    I use a Ubuntu Virtual Machine for my development work on my Windows PC (sooo many errors on Windows with versions and whatnot)

    Atom is very buggy and broken on a Ubuntu VM, so I use Sublime which is great and fast and wonderful and can do everything I would need Atom to do anyways.

    0 points
  • Sallar KaboliSallar Kaboli, 7 years ago

    I used to use Webstorm. Now I use Atom and I’m pretty happy with it.

    0 points
  • Ronalds Vilcins, 7 years ago

    Atom is too slow for me. I like Sublime Text and Coda.

    0 points
  • Joe SeifiJoe Seifi, 7 years ago

    Atom ST3 PHPStorm Coda vim

    0 points
  • Roman HorokhovatskyyRoman Horokhovatskyy, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Sublime Text it feels like an Open Source project and Atom feels like premium software with a GUI for settings and integrated package manager, I definitely would spend 70$ for Atom with amazing Sublime Text performance! So yeah Atom at first choice for me.

    0 points
  • Tyler Reckart, 7 years ago

    I like to stay in the terminal with a custom Spacemacs configuration. Never having to leave the keyboard has been a huge boost for productivity; at least it has for me.

    0 points
  • Andy LeverenzAndy Leverenz, 7 years ago

    I too started with Coda. Still have a sweet spot for it but then transitioned to Sublime Text 2 and now Atom. I love them all. Atom feels more complete to me. Sublime you can tweak until you're blue in the face which is both good and bad. Atom can be a little laggy but has some integrated stuff I enjoy.

    0 points
  • kushagra gour, 7 years ago

    ST2

    0 points
  • Huseyin EmanetHuseyin Emanet, 7 years ago

    Brackets here.

    0 points
  • Matt LdsMatt Lds, 7 years ago

    Atom with nuclide.io plugin

    0 points
  • Mark ListerMark Lister, 7 years ago

    http://atom.io/ Excellent editor, give it a whirl. Loads of really slick packages.

    0 points
  • Ollie BarkerOllie Barker, 7 years ago

    Got Sublime perfectly setup now for me (with a lot of help from the Devs I work with). Simply input, it's a load of plugins with the Material Design theme.

    0 points
  • Vu Nguyen Thai, 7 years ago

    Does anyone out there still use TextMate 2?

    0 points
  • Nurul Izwan Dahlan, 7 years ago

    Brackets. Using Sublime since last year but I love the Brackets live preview features. So useful!

    0 points
  • Alejandro DorantesAlejandro Dorantes, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Brackets.

    Wide array of plug-ins, open-source, highly customizable and it's beautiful. Has all the functions I need. Live preview was buggy on early releases but it works flawlessly now. Also there's a huge devbase around it. So it's easy to suggest features. Backed by Adobe.

    0 points
  • Dinesh Thapa MagarDinesh Thapa Magar, 7 years ago

    For me its sublime since 2 years. I love its extensibility.

    0 points
  • Vincent Le MoignVincent Le Moign, 7 years ago (edited 7 years ago )

    Not a front end dev, but I code the websites for my products. I

    I'm using Sublime text, also for the HTML & CSS preprocessors I'm using Codekit, a fantastic Mac app to compile preprocessed code. I'm using Jade for HTML, and Stylus for CSS.

    0 points
  • Spencer Bigum, 7 years ago

    Webstorm all the way - I do a lot of JavaScript and it's the best editor in my opinion for that. It's great for CSS and HTML too obviously, but it's a resource beast so if you have an older machine - something like sublime or atom would be better.

    0 points
  • Ale UrrutiaAle Urrutia, 7 years ago

    While on Windows machine I used Aptana but since a couple of years (on Mac) I wander from Coda to Sublime and then I've been using Atom for a few months.

    Atom is great as you can customize it, is quite fast (more than Aptana for sure) but you need to be careful as some packages conflict with others.

    0 points
  • A. M. ­DouglasA. M. ­Douglas, 7 years ago

    Caret on my Chromebook when I'm off the clock and working on something for my own curiosity.

    For work, I use Sublime Text and Visual Studio 2015.

    0 points