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The Coder’s Computer
Choosing A Text Editor
- Choosing a text is a personal choice
What is a text editor?
- it’s software that you install onto your computer which lets you manage the text used to build a website
Why is what you use to write code so important?
Depending on what you choose to edit your text, you might be missing out on features that could ease the process of writing code. Why not opt for a software that is free and could possibly help you get through text editing much quicker by better organizing your work and helping to predict what you need?
What are some features you should consider
- Code completion
- As you start typing, suggestions will pop up and offer to complete the code for you
- Syntax highlighting
- Different colors for different elements represented by text, making it much easier to spot errors and to read in general
- Different themes
- If possible, choose a theme that will be easier on the eyes. Usually a dark bright ground with brighter/neon text
- Plenty of extensions to choose from and install to improve your coding experience
- Extensions can improve functionality
You can use the software that is already on your computer to edit text, but you won’t get all the great features that can improve your workflow and catch more of your mistakes!!
Some options
- NotePad++
- TextWrangler
- BB Edit
- Visual Studio Code
- Atom
- Brackets
- Sublime Text
What is an IDE?
IDE stands for ‘Integrated Developement Environment’. It works as a text editor in additions to being a file manager, compiler and debugger.