#3 Choose Your Weapon

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A bit of background


Find out the basics of text editors

Text editors come in all many different forms, but at their hearts they all do the same thing - allow you to edit files that are composed of straight forward, everyday text. HTML & CSS files are like this, their contents are simply plain text.

Your computer may already have a text editor on it. If you're using a Windows based computer then you'll likely have Notepad (Programs > Accessories > Notepad). If you're using an Apple computer then you'll have VIM already installed (Applications > Utilities > Terminal and then type in VIM and press return). Finally, if you're running Linux (bonus points if you are) then you'll certainly have one of either VI/VIM, emacs, Kate or gedit. 
 
Not all text editors are created equally and whilst VIM is a truly splendid text editor, it has a steep learning curve. Unless you can already use it, then we'd recommend something else for now. You can always come back to VIM later on.
 
If you're running windows then Notepad has the opposite problem to VIM - it's too simple. You'll be fighting with it all the way to use it to do serious webcraft work.

Task Discussion


  • firewire2879 said:

    I'm using Dreamweaver CS5.5. A great webmaster's dream to create dynamic websites! The new Dreamweaver CS6 is up and coming with more sophesticated features-  e-commerce,  jQuery Mobile support, I'm looking forward to purchasing it in the near future!

    on May 18, 2012, 2:39 a.m.

    G Powell said:

    Hi firewire2879,

    Hope you're well.

    Dreamweaver CS6 sounds great but I was advised against using such tools by a web developer.  What's everyone else' take on this?  Does it distort the learning or is simply the smart persons weapon of choice?

    I'm not knocking but just interested to hear what yourself and others think of it.

    Thanks,

    G Powell

    on June 30, 2012, 5:19 p.m. in reply to firewire2879

    JDubbs said:

    I tend to agree with G Powell.

    I've found that dreamweaver is a great tool for designers to create webpages since they rarely focus on the more 'nuts and bolts' of a website, and deal more with the layout and design.

    Dreamweaver is nice in that it can do a templating system for you which can make header/footer creation and maintence quite easy, but I find that it puts a lot of extra comments/code in to handle that.  It can also do widget type things for you, but once again, creates a lot of bloat code (IMHO).

    I'd try just a simple editor for awhile, it might make learning the code a bit easier (since you'll have to actually write it all out).

    on Aug. 8, 2012, 2:49 p.m. in reply to firewire2879

    G Powell said:

    Cheers JDubbs,

    You make some good points here and ones in line to what others have said about Dreamweaver.  I am learning it myself but as you rightly say - you don't want to fully rely on Dreamweaver so it is best to develop a wide understanding of web development and use Dreamweaver as assistance, not the only thing.

    Great advice, thanks!!

    G Powell

    on Aug. 9, 2012, 4:04 p.m. in reply to JDubbs

  • algotruneman said:

    It might be worth adding, while doing some site maintenance, a good alternative for Dreamweaver is Kompozer. Open source/software freedom with visual editing along with access to edit the source. Cross-platform. http://kompozer.net/

    on May 16, 2012, 2:57 p.m.

    G Powell said:

    Thanks algotruneman, that's great advice!

    I have bookmarked that website and hadn't even heard of it until now!  Another great reason this this website is so good - gaining additional knowledge from fellow web people.

    So to confirm, do you think Kompozer is better than Dreamweaver, or good enough considering it is free?

    Many thanks,

    G Powell

    on Aug. 9, 2012, 4:06 p.m. in reply to algotruneman

    algotruneman said:

    "Better than Dreamweaver" isn't my assessment. I've not used Dreamweaver for many years, though. Kompozer is a good tool, one which just happens to be part of the Software Freedom structure. It is the Software Freedom issue that makes Kompozer "better" in my eyes.

    Free of cost is nice, but I recommend open tools because I want to respect and promote the open standards of the Web itself.

    Good luck with your explorations, and don't let frustrations stop you.

    --Algot

    on Aug. 9, 2012, 6:07 p.m. in reply to G Powell

    G Powell said:

    Thanks again algotruneman - and once again, I hadn't even heard of the Software Freedom structure so thanks for making me aware of that. What I have really enjoyed about this course, is that it is free and I am learning so much! I am bookmarking all the links everyone is sharing and I think I will use a combination of Notepad++, Adobe Creative Suite (I already had it before I joined) and Kompozer to see how I get on. Thanks again, G Powell > Subject: algotruneman posted a new comment at A bit of background in #3 Choose Your Weapo. > From:
    on Aug. 10, 2012, 6:54 a.m. in reply to algotruneman

  • algotruneman said:

    From time to time, I've had to work remotely with vi (vim).

    Emacs is a challenge for me. Have not given up.

    Day-to-day use is kate, the KDE text editor.

    Did anyone guess that I use GNU/Linux?

    on May 16, 2012, 2:52 p.m.

  • Pau Company said:

    Utilizo Dreamweaver CS5 ( No consigo instalar el CS6), pero sobre todo Notepad ++

    on May 15, 2012, 10:56 a.m.

  • Buzzy said:

    I recommend PsPad for basic text editing. It's very capable, fere and can do as much or as little as you need it to. I've used Netbeans for full-blown professional development and it's very good. Eclipse had potential but had too many problems for my tastes last time I tried it.

    on May 10, 2012, 6:36 p.m.

  • h0mer28 said:

    Anyone use Aptana Studio?

    on May 9, 2012, 1:49 p.m.

  • DK said:

     

    Hi everyone, I have Dreamweaver CS5 installed on my mac.  Do you recommend I start working with that application or resort to a basic text editor like VIM?  I'm a complete newbie, but I want to make sure I'm going through this process as best as possible...  THANKS!

    on May 9, 2012, 1:03 p.m.

    DK said:

    I decided to use Dreamweaver.  I couldn't figure out how to use VIM.  So far, so good. :)

    on May 9, 2012, 1:32 p.m. in reply to DK

  • san45 said:

    Since i am using linux, i found gEdit is a good one :)

    on May 6, 2012, noon

    nikema said:

    gEdit is nice.

    on July 17, 2012, 7:42 p.m. in reply to san45

  • dilys said:

    I am requesting mentorship as Mac editor is a bit trickier to select. But looks like P2PU already has someone that tried to resolve this problem with OpenSource editors. 

     

    Any suggestions of which one is good?

    Thank you!

    http://p2pu.org/en/groups/html-introduction/content/install-an-html-text-editor/

     

    on April 24, 2012, 12:59 a.m.

    Patchy said:

    gEdit is nice because it is simple, and it is a good fit for the scope of this class. Bluefish is also nice, and perfect for HTML, but it might look kind of ugly in an iOS environment, you would have to try it. Eclipse is kind of an overkill, although you can learn a lot by using it.

    You should find a perfect fit for you.

    on April 24, 2012, 6:09 p.m. in reply to dilys

    Anonym said:

    i use textmate and its amazing 

    on April 24, 2012, 6:12 p.m. in reply to dilys

    dilys said:

    Thank you! BlueFish looks promising

    on May 1, 2012, 1:22 a.m. in reply to Patchy

    dilys said:

    Thank you!

    on May 1, 2012, 1:22 a.m. in reply to Anonym

  • xzorzist said:

    Yes, notepad ++ is good. It has a synax editor, a feature I really enjoy.

    on April 20, 2012, 7:31 p.m.

  • Mirek said:

    My choice are notepad ++ it looks very simply but has strong tools to help while coding. Very important advantages is that notepad ++ coloring the code.

    on April 18, 2012, 2:04 p.m.

  • dp17 said:

    here's where i feel a bit of a cheat, i'm runing cs5 on my pc, i use dreamweaver. it's what i do for a living already. though when i work on site at one clients i use coffee cup on their system always liked it, nice and easy to use.

    on April 17, 2012, 5:59 a.m.

    dilys said:

    i saw Coffee Cup has preview feature allowing me to see how my website looks when finished. That sounds great. Have you used the FREE version? Is it free? Looks like it may be a trial version, I don't want my editor to expire on me. Thanks!

    on April 23, 2012, 7:37 p.m. in reply to dp17

    dp17 said:

    just checked mine and yes it does expire after a while, totally worth upgrading and quite cheap mind, especially if you're considering carrying on with web work. I've just seen how much the new dreamweaver is going to cost today incidentally, $699 upgrade. ouch. 

    on April 24, 2012, 3:52 a.m. in reply to dilys

  • eshu9e said:

    i use all such as Emacs,notepad,notepad++,vim,vi,nano  all r having thier own good feautures

    on April 13, 2012, 3:12 a.m.

  • Gamali Grant said:

    Notepad++ is a very versatile and light weight text editor with many features.... the best thing its FREE! Komodo edit is good for mac users.

    on April 13, 2012, 12:22 a.m.

  • Caspar said:

    I'm also using Notepad++. God i would really like to use Adobe Dreamweaver, but its far to expensive to do so.

    on April 12, 2012, 1:30 p.m.

  • MissAjayG said:

    One text editor I commonly use is Komodo. It's really  great, we use it in my college.

    on April 11, 2012, 12:16 p.m.

  • Patchy said:

    I have used VIM, but I love gedit. It highlights stuff and it makes it look real nice. You can also use it on Windows...

    on April 8, 2012, 3:47 p.m.

  • Kriztyna86 said:

    I'll be using Notepad++, I have it installed already and I've heard good comments about it.

    on April 3, 2012, 3:44 a.m.

  • Jeremiah said:

    I have installed notepad++

    I gather from the comments here that this is the honda accord of editors, so I'll give it a try.

    on April 2, 2012, 11:25 p.m.

  • Zach said:

    I'm a bit of a fan of editors and I've used virtually all of the most common ones available. For now, I'll probably be using Sublime Text - http://www.sublimetext.com/ - but that may change...

    on March 21, 2012, 1:38 a.m.