Best Code Editors

Code editors are very lightweight programs used to write and run code. They are lightweight and easy to use, so they are good. If you are a beginner, then use code editors as they will help you to write code in a simple way without any confusion.

Most programmers use code editors to write programs and edit programs. When code editors were not developed, programmers or coders would use text editors such as TextEdit on Mac iOS and Notepad on Windows.

It will take a long time to write code in text editors, but it takes less time to write code in code editors because most functions are completed automatically by pressing enter. Code editors have many features that make a coder's life more effortless.

For example, users of WordPress can access its built-in code editor, which possesses the features noted for editing the code of a page.

In addition to code editors, different integrated development environment (IDE) applications exist, which provide a feature-rich code editing experience. Nevertheless, IDEs require more computing power than code editors.

In this article, we will discuss the best code editors you can use to write programs as per the programmer's requirements.

Below is the list of best code editors, which are as follows:

1. Atom

To put it in simple terms, Atom is a text editor. It was released under the MIT license, which included all its packages. Atom is a code editor that is free and open source. It is gradually becoming a tool of choice for the full spectrum, starting from students and going all the way up to professionals.

Developers developed it at GitHub, and because of this, it has got all the Git control embedded in it. It supports many programming languages like C, JavaScript, C#, Java, C++, Go, Python, and more.

You could use this as a simple text editor or, with some configuration, as a full IDE and because of all of this, the flexibility associated with it is sometimes referred to as a hackable text editor for the 21st century.

Atom package library:

The extension library in Atom is rather substantial. It is called an extension package. You can also search the web for new packages and remove the ones that you have previously installed.

• Git-Aware: This is great that Atom is Git-aware. When you form a new file, it is coloured green in the sidebar. When the file has been edited, it is orange.
• Command Palette: It is accessible by the keys, command shift P.

Features of Atom Code Editor:

• Multiline cursor: It is super easy to use and compelling. It allows you to type many things simultaneously, on multiple lines, anywhere in the document. In Mac OS and Windows OS, just hold down the command key or control key.
• Fuzzy File Finder: If you are doing a big project, it cannot be very pleasant to click through each folder to find the file you want. You can press command T or control T and search the file.
• Application Style Sheet: Atom can install command line shell commands. It calls a compiler or other tools with active documents. It is fast and lightweight, with less than two milliseconds of loading time.
• Scroll Past the End: You can enable this option in the settings for this to work. With its help, you can remove additional lines present in the document.
• Atom Shell Command: Atom can install command line shell commands. It calls a compiler or other tools with active documents. It is fast and lightweight, and the loading time is less than two milliseconds.

2. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a code editor which is free, robust and open-source. Anybody can use this editor and write the code and modify it. This text editor is lightweight and powerful. It supports multiple languages like JavaScript, Node.js and TypeScript, which are built-in.

You can install the extensions inside the editor according to your requirement. It allows the customization of the User Interface (UI) to suit your style by altering the colour theme.

Features of Visual Studio Code:

• Command Palette: It also provides a command palette function to find individual commands for all your extensions. For example, typing in Python will demonstrate all commands for this language. Using the combination which is Ctrl + Shift + P, you can access all the functionality of Visual Studio Code.
• Change Language Mode: You can change the language mode in the Atom text editor by going to the settings.
• Split View: You can split VS Code into parts, so if you want to perform two tasks at once or compare two files, this Split View feature is helpful for you in multitasking.
• Debugging: This document allows for checking and finding errors and then fixing them. It helps to write clean code.
• Default Keyboard shortcuts: If you cannot recall the shortcut of the features in VS code, then you can use the Command Palette to see the shortcuts of the functions and use them.
• Status Bar: It is a very nice feature in VS Code because it helps you to notify you. You can see the warning and errors. Short cut for Status Bar is Ctrl + Shift + M.

3. NetBeans

NetBeans is a code editor available for free use. It is an open-source tool which everyone can use free of cost. This editor is used to write programs in many languages, such as Java, C++, Python, PHP, and more.

This editor allows upgrading your applications to use new languages. It is unrestricted for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It is easy to use.

Features of NetBeans:

Project Management: It is easy to manage files in NetBeans, so the project is maintained properly.

Static Analysis Tools: It supports a wide range of tools that inspect source coding and detect problems without running the code.

Code Converters: You can convert one kind of code to another.

Cross-Platform Support: This cross-platform software is available for computers running Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

Multiple Language Support: NetBeans supports various languages. It supports C, C++, JavaScript, HTML, and PHP.

NetBeans Profiler: It provides essential information about the application's runtime behaviour. It tells the threat state, memory usage, and CPU performance.

Visual Debugger: The NetBeans IDE provides a debugging toolbar that helps you navigate your files. See Working with toolbars and editors.

4. Sublime Text

The sublime Text editor is a very advanced code editor with many advantages. One of the benefits is that you can install packages to make your text editor more functional. This text editor will help to increase the coding speed.

Sublime Text offers a free version but repeatedly shows pop-up boxes asking users to upgrade to the paid version. Sublime Text Editor is the best code editor for a thorough development environment as it groups code, markup, and composition into one tool.

Sublime Text Editor is a discreet text editor that developers widely use. It includes a wide range of features such as syntax highlight, file type recognition, plugins, sidebars, auto-indentation, macros, and packages in order that make working with the code base convenient.

Features of Sublime Text Editor:

• Auto Completion: It is an impressive feature of Sublime Text. It autocompletes functions and saves the time of writing code. This feature allows you to write the code in a fast manner.
• Language Support: It supports several languages, including C, Java, Python, HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
• Find and Replace: This Text editor helps you to replace the text in the document without scrolling through the document.
• Code Folding: This feature is used to hide specific sections like lines of code of a document without losing any work.
• Multiple Selection: The Text Editor allows users to locate, rename, replace, and manipulate multiple lines with the help of the multiple selection feature and work on projects in a fast and efficient manner.
• Multiple Cursor: The text editor also consists of a multiple cursor feature. Users can add similar quotes to multiple lines at once by selecting lines and pressing "ctrl" on the keyboard.
• Collaborative editing: You can edit the same file at the same time when working on different computers. Many developers use this feature.
• Extensibility: Sublime is extensible; it includes additional features and functionalities.
• Security: There is total security in Sublime. It does not allow access to unknown resources.

5. Notepad++

It is a text editor or source code editor. It is a very popular and widely used editor for coding. It was developed by Don Ho and initially released on SourceForge in November 2003. It has won the SourceForge Community Choice Award two times for being the best developer tool. It is available free of cost for use. It allows working with multiple files at once, so the programmer can open multiple files, move from one file to another, and make edits. It helps the computer user to prepare documents. It supports Java, JavaScript, R, SQL, PHP, HTML, Python, XML, Pascal, JSON etc. Notepad++ also allows the user to change the background colour.

Features of Notepad ++ code editor:

• Customize your theme: This editor has several pre-defined themes that you can choose from and apply to your document. You can also create or customize your theme. You can change the colours and choose from pre-built theme templates in the Style Configurator.
• Folder as a workspace: This editor has a unique feature which is a folder as a workspace. With its help, we can view all the items of a folder at once in the form of a specialized tree. This feature allows you to organize the files and navigate among the various files.
• Find words and strings across multiple documents: Open the find menu by clicking Ctrl + F. Type desired string in the find menu and click on the Find All in All Opened Documents.
• Replace words and strings across multiple documents: In Notepad ++, you can replace words and strings across numerous documents. If you want to rename a parameter or function, then you make changes across all documents. Click on Ctrl + H, type the string you want to replace into the field, click on Replace All in all Opened Documents, and save all the edited documents.
• Plugin: It supports a plugin system to add more features to the application.

6. VIM

VIM is a text editor or code editor that is free and open source. It was developed by Bram Moolnar and was initially released on 2 November 1991. It supports almost all languages like Java, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Ruby, Python etc. It supports platforms like Unix, macOS, Windows, etc. Best code editor for experienced developers and coders. The application is lightweight at only 6KB in weight, yet it is robust with hundreds of programming languages, file formats, and a powerful plugin system.

Unlike the others on this list, Vim focuses on code editing rather than code writing.

It is one of the best code editors for working on pre-existing codebases, adding functionality, and fixing issues to existing software.

Another popular feature is the robust keyboard shortcuts. Vim is keyboard-focused and has a pre-configured key binding for any developers who want to take their work within a code editor to make it faster and more efficient.

It can take some time to remember all the shortcuts to maximize the potential of the code editor. If You are a beginner, then first learn key bindings basics, like inserting, deleting, and saving code.

Additionally, this code editor has a steep learning curve for anyone who has just begun using the software as it is command-line software.

Features of VIM:

• Split Screen: It supports multiple windows, which means the screen can be divided into multiple windows with the help of this feature.
• Highly Configuration: It is deeply configurable and uses a handy text file for storing its configuration.
• Ease Complex Tasks: It is command centric. You can use commands to perform complex text-related tasks.
• Extensive Plugin Support: There are numerous plugins which VIM provides. The functionality of the code can be extended in a significant way using these plugins.
• Multiple Tabs: It supports multiple tabs, which provides working on multiple files.
• Recording: It supports features that allow recording and running VIM code repeatedly.
• Multiple buffers: Like multiple windows, it also supports numerous buffers.
• Security: It provides protection. It does not allow entry from unknown resources.
• Free and Open-Source: It is free and open-source, which means anyone can use it for free without paying a single penny.
• Multiple Language Support: It supports many languages like Java, Python, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, SQL, and more. You can write code for many different languages in VIM.

7. Bluefish

Bluefish is a free and open-source text editor that anyone can use for free. It was developed by Chris Mazuc and Olivier Sessink in 1997 and written in C programming.

It was mainly created for web development professionals working on Linux desktop platforms. It gives the environment for developing dynamic websites because Bluefish editor consists of a variety of tools available for programming.

It reduces errors and makes coding easier. It supports many programming languages such as Java, C, C++, JavaScript, SQL, XML, Go, PHP, Perl, Ruby, Python, XHTML, CSS, shell, HTML, etc. It is platform-independent and is available for macOS, Linux, Solaris, and Windows. It is easy to understand, lightweight and has a fast-performance language.

Features of Bluefish:

• Multiple Document Interface: Bluefish allows you to open 500+ documents easily. It increases the efficient use of screen space and reduces clutter in a window.
• Auto Completion: When you type any word known to the Bluefish software. It predicts the word user is trying to type and gives some suggestions. You can click on the required suggestion, or you can press the tab if the first suggestion is the required word to auto-complete the word. It helps in speeding up the coder's speed.
• Code Folding: This feature allows hiding or unhiding a document's parts. It allows users to view only the crucial details or currently in use.
• Syntax Highlighting: This feature displays source code in various fonts and colours to categorize the term. It distinguishes the syntax error by using the different colours of it. Highlighting the code does not affect the real meaning of the code. It only helps the user to recognize variables, functions, etc., in a programming language.
• Code Navigation: This feature allows you to navigate from one code to another at your convenience.

8. CoffeeCup HTML Editor

CoffeeCup HTML Editor is a code editor. It was developed by Nicolas Longo and Kevin Junica and released in August 1996. It is the best editor for web designers and web developers. It supports languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP.

Features of CoffeeCup HTML Editor:

• Template downloader: This feature allows the user to download templates which are 100% responsive templates.
• Auto-Completion: This is a very nice feature of this editor as it allows the user to complete the word by giving suggestions, making coding faster.
• Code Validation: This feature helps in providing more security. It checks the code to validate the page.
• Stay Organized: This keeps things arranged and removes problems like broken links and images. It gives you total control over how your website is organized.
• Tag Reference: This feature automatically suggests tags to be inserted in the code while coding.
• Live Preview: You can preview the website you are building and make changes immediately to improve the website. Live Preview is the facility where you can view and improve your website live.
• Semantic Web: To increase the rank of your website. You should write the code semantically, adding structured data and giving proper indentation.

9. Codeshare.io

CodeShare is a free code editor available for use on the Internet. It is a web application service and excellent for interviewing, debugging, and reviewing code.

This code editor has a smooth and modern UI with a simple sidebar. It provides the essential tabs to adjust settings, download a text file, start a video chat, and create a new document.

It opens as a plain code editor. You also have the choice to alter the syntax in various pre-installed languages ranging from HTML, PHP, CSS, C#, and YAML.

It supports many computer languages like PHP, HTML, CSS, C#, etc. It is a browser-based code editor and allows one to download the code.

Features of Codeshare.io:

• Real-time approach: You and your friend can write, test, and run code together in real-time remotely.
• Code with your team: You must open the codeshare editor and write or copy the code. You can share the code with your friends. You and your friends can check and correct errors in your program together.
• Interview Developers: The interviewer can set up coding tasks remotely or in person during the interview and view it in real-time.
• Teach people to code: You can share your code with students and then teach them remotely. Colleges and universities around the world use CodeShare every day.

10. WeBuilder

WeBuilder is an all-in-one editor and is best for use by web designers or developers.

It is a robust, lightweight, fast, and flexible code editor. It supports multiple programming languages like HTML, JavaScript, CSS, PHP, Python, ASP, Ruby, Perl and more. It allows for inspecting the source code, finding problems, and rectifying issues.

It is generally designed to build websites without writing code manually. It is designed to help users build their websites without any complications. It helps validate, navigate, format, reuse, and deploy code faster and more efficiently.

Features of WeBuilder are:

• Powerful Syntax Highlighting: This is a handy feature of WeBuilder. When the coder writes the code in WeBuilder, functions, variables, string literals, comments, etc., appear in different colours, which helps the coder to identify the different parts of the code.
• Super Quick: Loading time is much less than other code editors.
• Code Intelligence: It autocompletes text and provides navigation.
• Smart Code Re-Use: It allows the reuse of code with the help of code snippet libraries and code templates.
• Advanced Search and Replace: You can search for text, files, or anything in the WeBuilder editor.
• Integrated Validation and Debugging: It allows checking spells and validation of codes.
• Fully Customizable: It allows you to customize the menu, shortcut keys, and toolbar according to your needs.
• Code Minimap: It allows quick navigation.

There are more detailed features like Unicode support, line highlighting, split editing, code folding, macro recorder, multi-highlighting, file management, plugin support, portable mode and much more.

The above list displays some of the best code editors, and you can choose one according to your needs. These editors are for everyone, whether you are a beginner, intermediate or expert. You can make up your mind, choose the right editor and start writing code to build the best website, application or more.