10 Best Code Editors for Windows and Mac!

10 Best Code Editors for Developers

1Notepad++

Notepad++ is an advanced and feature-rich sibling of the Notepad text editor you find in Windows OS. There is a major interface difference between the two which you may notice immediately after starting Notepad++.

The application supports various programming languages, but it is typically known for being the best HTML editor. The application supports colored lines while writing the syntax of the language and further highlights the mistakes in the code immediately.

Pros

• Being built for the Windows platform, it can also run on Linux, Unix, Mac OS X(using Wine).
• It is a lightweight application and launches quickly.
• Supports external plugins including macros.
• The interface supports tabbed editing.
• Add Bookmarks for future concerns
• Drag and Drop Option for beginners.
• Option to find and replace text
• Full-Screen Mode
• Minimize to tray window
• Smart syntax highlighting
• Auto indentation and auto complete
• Code and text folding
• Compiler Integration
• FTP support
• Spell check with file comparison

Cons

• Remote file editing does not support HTTP, SSH or WebDAV
• Does not support large files
• Third party program (wine) is needed to run the application on Mac OS X.

Price: Free

Verdict:

It is one of the best free text editors for coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. Many advance code editors don’t provide the option for Code Highlighting in case of any mistake in the code but, Notepad++ supports this functionality and helps in writing error-free code.

2Sublime Text

Sublime text is another lightweight text editor. It is compact but powerful. It provides powerful IDE-like features along with Python Scripting and with an ability to customize the editor and letting the coders program with great speed and efficiency.

There are many code editors that support the black background for enhanced view and Sublime Text is one of them.

Pros

• Multi-Line select and editing
• Offers a cross-platform support
• Instant file switching
• Beginner-friendly interface
• Black screen supports distraction-free editing mode
• Fully customizable
• Support for TextMate and Windows Decoration themes
• Haxe and OpenFL integration via plugin support
• Syntax detection and highlighting the error

Cons

• Poor Support for Linux
• Opening big files takes time
• Crashes Frequently
• The much-used package manager is missing from the software
• The code editor does not support the print option
• No toolbar of its own

Verdict:

If you are starting with the basics of programming, Sublime Text is the best HTML and PHP editor to go with. Almost all the code editors support these basic programming languages but, they have an advanced interface and are good for mainly server side programming.

3Atom

Atom is the invention of GitHub’s greatest minds and looks very similar to the Sublime Text. The interface looks just like the clone of the latter text editor. Many programmers would feel more comfortable in using Atom as it has got a simple interface as compared to the Sublime Text.

Pros

• Easy to navigate interface
• Supports Command Palette
• Special Developer Tools
• Package Manager Integrated for Plugins support
• Customizing UI is easier as compared to other code editors
• The GitHub community is pretty active in getting any issues resolved if the developer is stuck somewhere while programming
• Fuzzy File Finder

Cons

• Slow as compared to other text editors
• CoffeeScript needed to write the packages.
• No Corona Package
• Difficulty in handling large files

Price: Free

Verdict:

It is a product for developers created by developers. The community is very helpful and helps a lot in resolving the issues faced by any developer. Being an Open Source platform, it is the best text editor for basic as well as advanced programming. Atom is among those few code editors that is regularly updated with new functionalities and bug fixes.

4Coda

So, here comes a Mac supported Text Editor for the flashy programmers who like speed and optimization in a single code editor.

Coda supports OS X 10.7.5 and later versions of Mac and is one of the very few code editors that have been carefully designed for the Mac systems only.

The application has evolved much from its initial release in 2007 from a simple text editor to a previewed.

It included every essential feature that you will need to power up your coding session including the syntax, reviewing and uploading your web pages. The Transmit Turbo Engine supports the quick uploads from a remote location.

Pros

• The core features are integrated compactly
• Leopard GUI
• Auto code completion
• Block editing and syntax coloring
• Drag and drop option
• Terminal window support for MySQL queries

Cons

• Best suited for programming in HTML and CSS
• Supports Mac-based systems only
• Support for network drives causes to crash frequently
• Expensive application as compared to other code editors

Price: 7 day Trial/ $99 for full version

Verdict:

Coda is the best alternative for expensive Web design suites. It combines all the necessary tools that you need to develop a website from scratch. Coda is the best text editor for Mac considering price and features. The app also supports proper notification for any updates.

5TextMate

TextMate is another Mac-based text editor. This text editor is mostly preferred for programming in Ruby and Ruby on Rails. It is a well-known Code-Editor for developers who code on a Mac system.

The application is excellent for development in modern programming languages. Let’s us look at some of its pros and cons.

Pros

• Search and Replace
• Auto Indentation
• Clipboard History
• Column Selection and Column Typing
• Auto Completion
• Support for Foldable Code Blocks
• Support for Perforce, Darcs, SVK and Subversion
• Supports more than 50 programming languages
• Syntax Highlight and coloring
• Supports Xcode
• FTP support

Cons

• Outdated UI is the biggest drawback of this highly optimized Mac text editor.
• No fullscreen support
• Only available for Mac OSX.

Price: Free

Verdict:

Without any doubt, if you are looking for a free text editor, TextMate is the best text editor for Mac. You may find many free text editors for Windows but there are very few free applications which are available for Mac and TextMate is one of them.

6Text Wrangler

TextWrangler is another iOS-based text editor program. It is one of the very few software platforms which supports only one primary language i.e. English.

Although, this feature does not mean that TextWrangler is just another standard application.

Being a plain text editor app, it is a very powerful text editor and one of the best tools for Unix and server administration.

Pros

• Supports 44 programming languages including HTML, JavaScript, Perl, Python, VBScript, and SQL.
• Very few code editors support the execution of big files and TextWrangler is one of them.
• Plugin support and macros
• Secure FTP to make transferring of data easier
• SSH support for remote file editing
• Compare two docs simultaneously
• Syntax Highlighting
• Code folding and Text folding
• Auto Completion
• Spell Checker

Cons

• Does not support collaborative editing
• No HTTP or WebDav support
• Not compatible with Power Macintosh G4

Price: Free

Verdict:

The application is free, but you can also upgrade to a more advanced version of the same app i.e. BBEdit for $49. The app is a superb HTML editor for the Mac systems with many useful functionalities.

7jEdit

Here comes the code editor for pro/experienced programmers only. jEdit is an open-source platform developed using Java programming language. Java is one of the world’s most secure programming languages.

The bytecode functionality of Java makes it tough to decipher and decode. The application supports hundreds of plugins and macros.

Let us learn more about this java based code editor:

Pros

• Auto indentation
• Code and text folding
• It is the most powerful engine for implementing regular expressions
• Spell checker, FTP support, compiler integration available using a third-party plugin
• Multiple instances can be run at the same time
• Integrated FTP browser

Cons

• Being written in Java, it is a heavyweight application and thus takes time in loading
• No collaborative editing
• Can be buggy on Mac
• Large files are not supported
• SSH is not supported for remote file editing

Price: Free

Verdict:

If you want an advanced and secure platform, jEdit is the right tool for you. This java based code editor can sometimes take time to load but, it won’t let you down with regard to the functionalities and features it sports. Enjoy this free text editor for clean, secure and optimized programming session.

8Araneae

Araneae is a Windows-only text editor tool that enriches your coding and programming experience on a Windows-based PC.

Operating on “Windows Only” is very unique because every program that is available for Windows is also available for other platforms like Mac and Linux also, and Araneae is one of a kind in this regard.

The tool includes multiple extensions and localizations which enable support for multiple programming languages like HTML, CSS, XHTML, PHP, and Rails without any third party extension download.

Let’s look at some of its features to know more about the platform.

Pros

• Syntax highlighting
• Drag and drop option for faster implementation
• Search and replace to perform multiple edits
• Multiple instance support as in jEdit

Cons

• No external plugins or macros support

Price: Free

Verdict:

Araneae being a Windows-only platform offers faster updates and bug fixes. It is a basic text editor and can be used as a good PHP editor.

9Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a Microsoft-powered platform for developers. The tool, however, is an open-source platform and can be used on any major platform like Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

The biggest feature of this code editor is that it provides an enriching programming experience to developers without letting them download the massive Visual Studio editions file which is approximately 3GB in size.

This saves both the time and bandwidth. The application is thus very lightweight and does not consume much of the RAM and promotes fast access and implementation.

Pros

• Supports more than 30 programming languages including Microsoft’s core language ASP.NET, C#, etc.
• The application installs in very little time due to its compact size.
• Visual Studio Code also has a portable version to download in the supported devices.
• Enables GitHub control and offers to debug features.

Cons

• The software takes huge time in updating on Linux systems.
• Calls for an immediate improvement in the extension support.

Price: Free

Verdict:

Visual Studio Code occupies very less space on the disk. It is good for implementing Microsoft based languages like ASP.Net and C#. Being a lightweight application, you can access the controls smoothly without any glitches and optimize your coding speed.

10UltraEdit

UltraEdit is a text editor developed by IDM Computer Solutions. Inc. This code editor is cool to go with the developments in HTML, JavaScript, PHP, C/C++, Perl, and other programming languages.

Being a premium product in this category, UltraEdit is developed to offer the best programming features to the developers.

Below are the points to throw some light on the powerful features packed in this tool.

Pros

• Multi-Select option for editing a common code at once.
• Code and syntax highlighting to notify any error in the code.
• Integrated FTP for secure file transfer.
• Column/Block Editing
• File and data sorting
• Integrated SSH
• Good in handling large files

Cons

• The tool is very expensive as compared to the other text editors in the same segment.

Price: $79.95 per year

Verdict:

Although the software is a little pricey, it supports many features that are quite useful for advanced programming.

It is typically cheap as compared to the other tools which are staying in the market because of their brand name and also offer fewer features for a high price. UltraEdit is the best text editor available in the industry presently.