# Recommend me a text editor! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 16, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859 "2006-02-16T20:13:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/21 "2006-02-17T07:34:07Z")
I use 2: JEdit (typically for Java work, not sure if it has JavaScript syntax) Crimson Editor (simple PC editor with built in FTP interface so I can edit scripts from Unix, AS400, etc. in one editor). Question: why do I see people talking about “vi”??? Is this the same 1950’s style editor I used long ago (which was about as painful as when I used to program in Hex before I could afford an assembler (not joking))? ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/22 "2006-02-17T11:57:15Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Question: why do I see people talking about “vi”??? Because it is _always_ available on any Unix box (not everyone gets to choose where they do their development/support). It doesn’t need a Gui. It will work over telnet/dialup. It’s a better code editor than Notepad\*, it has bracket matching and line numbers and can open multiple files. It does have a rather harsh user interface. - what isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_Stimulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/23 "2006-02-17T12:00:34Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > Because it is _always_ available on any Unix box (not everyone gets to choose where they do their development/support). It doesn’t need a Gui. That’s exactly right. The only other editor I can think of that is (almost) always available (at least on any Linux box) is _pico_ (or _nano_, depending), which is painful to use. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/24 "2006-02-17T12:54:02Z")
If you’re on Windows, Crimson Editor is another option; I use it extensively for Java. It supports JavaScript syntax highlighting, line numbers, is pretty fast, and free. It also helps you match braces and parantheses, with some nifty automated tab management (you open a brace, and it tabs out; close a brace, and it tabs back). Decent user review rating on [Download.com](http://www.download.com/Crimson-Editor/3640-2352_4-10328038.html), too. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/25 "2006-02-17T13:56:37Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > UltraEdit is mostly free…and its the best. I use it for looking in data files rather than coding, but I was also going to suggest [UltraEdit32](http://www.ultraedit.com/) . Well worth the small payment for the standard version, and also now has plugins and extensions added by the user community (tag lists, autocomplete, macros, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/26 "2006-02-17T14:49:06Z")
More vi[m] love: Once you get the basic commands down, it’s faster than any other editor I’ve ever used. I manipulate files directly from the command line probably 95% of the time, even on the machines where I’ve got access to a GUI. It’s a helluva lot quicker to type, eg: vi /var/www/blah/whatever.js …than to open Nautilus or Konq, click my way to the directory, right-click on the file, select “open with”, then select a graphical editor. Or open the editor, click “open”, navigate to the directory, and select the file. The same holds true for the Windows, which is why I use vim in Cygwin whenever possible. Not to mention the actual editing commands. How do you tell a graphical editor to “copy the next 11 lines, insert them at line 100, and stick two tabs at the beginning of each one” _without_ taking your hands off the keyboard? I’m not a programmer, but I guess the integration of an IDE might be better for developing actual applications. But for straight ASCII-based stuff, nothing beats vim. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/27 "2006-02-17T15:16:15Z")
TextPad is pretty popular with HTML writers, but I’ve never tried it. [NoteTab](http://www.notetab.com/) Lite is a pretty good freebie, includes regexp search and replace. Pay a little and get more in upgrade versions. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/28 "2006-02-17T15:56:22Z")
This programmer also swears by UltraEdit (and occassionally swears at it, but that’s a different story) ---
**Author:** ![rkts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@rkts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rkts)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/29 "2006-02-17T21:01:58Z")
A mouse-based text editor makes about as much sense as a keyboard-based paint program. Really, just use vi or Emacs. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/30 "2006-02-18T00:13:58Z")
> [@rkts](#): > > A mouse-based text editor makes about as much sense as a keyboard-based paint program. Really, just use vi or Emacs. Yes, I agree. Using a mouse to highlight, copy and paste text is a major pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/31 "2006-02-18T03:48:04Z")
> [@black455](#): > > It’s a helluva lot quicker to type, eg: > > vi /var/www/blah/whatever.js > > …than to open Nautilus or Konq, click my way to the directory, right-click on the file, select “open with”, then select a graphical editor. Or open the editor, click “open”, navigate to the directory, and select the file. Rare is the text editor that _won’t_ let you do that. Of the text editors that I’ve used recently, Gedit, Kate, the nix distrobution of jEdit, and SciTE all allow you to open a file from the command line in just such a way as you describe above. ---
**Author:** ![Paranoid\_Randroid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paranoid_randroid/32/18_2.png) [@Paranoid\_Randroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paranoid_Randroid)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/32 "2006-02-18T03:51:30Z")
Additionally … let me add a recommendation for Kate as a nix text editor. It is the shiznit, and I’m not sure how I forgot to mention it in the first place. Kate for KDE, SciTE for Windows and Gnome, and jEdit for OS X. Those be me updated recommendations, arrgh. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859/33 "2006-02-18T13:34:47Z")
> [@Mbossa](#): > > I’ve been pretty happy with [Notepad++](http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm). It supports syntax highlighting for over 30 languages (including javascript), and has plugin functionality for more. It also has a bunch of those little features that make programming easier, like brace matching and block folding. I second notepad++. I’ve just started using this, and although I haven’t done programming in it yet, I like it a lot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-me-a-text-editor/344859.md?page=1)