#3 Choose Your Weapon

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Let the Editor Choose You


Find the best text editor option available for your operating system

Depending on the operating system that you're using, you'll have different options available to you in terms of which text editor you can install.Some of these editors are not free, but we've listed them because they're robust and available for a short period in a trial mode. Trying them out won't cost you anything financially.

 
There are many more text editors available for each platform and we'd encourage you to search around if none of the editors on this page choose you.
 
If you're running Windows –
  • Notepad++ 
  • ConTEXT
  • E Text Editor
 
If you're running OS X –
  • TextWrangler
  • TextMate
  • Sublime Text
 
If you're running Linux –
  • Gedit
  • Kate
  • Bluefish
 
Spend the next hour or so trying out the various text editors available for your operating system. With each one create a file called 'helloworld.html'. Into that file you should enter the html that you wrote by hand in the previous challenge.
 
If one of the text editors feels more comfortable than the others, then congratulations; a text editor just chose you. You are now a fierce webcraft warrior and you now have your trusty sword.
 
Spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Task Discussion


  • eshu9e said:

    am using both notepad++ and notepad on windows both are fine working for me :)

    on April 13, 2012, 3:14 a.m.

  • massod said:

    I'm using Notepad++ it works for me on my windowXp machine well

    on April 12, 2012, 6:41 a.m.

  • MissAjayG said:

    I'm just goin to go with Notepad. It may be too simple but it's already downloaded on my computer...

    on April 11, 2012, 12:18 p.m.

    MissAjayG said:

    No actually going for komodo, so much easier

    on April 11, 2012, 12:19 p.m. in reply to MissAjayG

  • Almudena said:

    I tried Notepad and ConTEXT and I think I am sticking with ConTEXT. I found it more complete and easier to use.

    on April 9, 2012, 6:27 a.m.

  • Patchy said:

    Tried gedit and Bluefish. I'm sticking with gedit, but Bluefish seems to have nice features and might be better on the long run for HTML, since it's made pretty much for that purpose. I also tried Kate, but apps built for KDE usually don't go well with GNOME.

    on April 8, 2012, 8:25 p.m.

  • Andrei said:

    Tried Notepad++ and ConTEXT, I'm sticking with Notepad for now/

    on April 4, 2012, 3:54 p.m.

  • Jeremiah said:

    I tried conTEXT and compared it to notepad++. I like the feel of notepad++ better so far.

    on April 3, 2012, 5:08 p.m.

  • Kriztyna86 said:

    I like Notepad++, I tried a couple of the ones listed, but I still like this more.

    on April 3, 2012, 3:52 a.m.

    Kriztyna86 said:

    Changed my mind, I think I'll try ConText first, just because I found easier to find mistakes.

    on April 3, 2012, 2:20 p.m. in reply to Kriztyna86

  • Zach said:

    There's obviously quite a few editors/IDEs missing from the list, so it may be worth looking around at other possibilities. Not being an Apple user, I'll leave that platform  for others, Here's a few possibilities for Windows:

    Scite - http://www.scintilla.org/SciTE.html

    Notepad2 - http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html

    Vim/GVim - http://www.vim.org/

    Eclipse - http://aptana.com/

    Aptana Studio 3 - http://aptana.com/

    Kompozer - http://kompozer.net/

    Blue Fish - http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html

    The list goes on...

     

    on March 21, 2012, 2:06 a.m.

  • Doug Belshaw said:

    I'm not overly-fussy and TextWrangler seemed just fine. :-)

    on March 15, 2012, 11:02 a.m.

  • Jose Maravillas said:

    My favorite editors are:

    • Notepad++
    • Dreamweaver
    • Komodo Edit
    • Intype

    Other editors that I have heard great things about:

    • Aptana Studio
    • Eclipse
    • Textmate

    Right now the main text editor that I use is Notepad++. It loads up fast, had plugins, syntax highlighting, and many more features. I only learned to use Dreamweaver because it is the industry standard, but sometime I think it is has too bloated.

    @Rjones below linked to a great website to find your text editor. The website was http://alternativeto.net/software/notepad/

    on March 10, 2012, 3:01 a.m.

  • thayne said:

    I've been programming for a while so vim/gvim is my editor of choice, although I am also pretty comfortable with emacs or kate

    on March 3, 2012, 5:43 p.m.

  • Gaurav said:

    Hey, try intype, a portable awesome light editor.

    on March 2, 2012, 3:25 a.m.

  • Brad Garlich said:

    Can't get Komodo Edit to run properly on my Mac for some reason. It's to spec it seems. It's slow to launch and when I try to open a template, nothing happens. Guess I'll use TextWrangler by default.

    on Feb. 27, 2012, 7:53 p.m.

  • Vijayendra said:

    Komodo edit will be a good one for my windows........... 

    on Feb. 25, 2012, 2:09 a.m.

  • Mandred said:

    I think im goin to use the phase 5 html editor...

    But the best editor listed on this site is notepad++. Its clear and powerfull

    on Feb. 23, 2012, 6:35 a.m.

  • itsalie said:

    Bluefish is a little too chaotic for me, and gedit a little too simple, so for now I am going to go with Kate.

    on Feb. 17, 2012, 10:20 p.m.

  • Douglas Leavitt said:

    I think that I will go with Kate.

    on Feb. 17, 2012, 1:50 a.m.

  • kevinblackner said:

    based on what ive read and evryones comments, notepad++ is the best text editor for me

    on Feb. 8, 2012, 5:01 p.m.

  • Seun Sanni said:

    think i will just stick to both of them, if i had to really choose then it will have to be komodo, just because it has this auto correct option

    on Feb. 6, 2012, 12:31 p.m.