Delicious | Designer Notes: Looking for that ideal code editor. Might Coda be it?

Looking for that ideal code editor. Might Coda be it?

22nd June 2008

No matter how many apps I try, there is always something missing. You wait around for ages to see a much needed feature built in, yet nothing. This is the case with Textmate, which I have been using for a few years after having a shaky relationship with Adobe Dreamweaver.

At first Textmate was a revelation but the ability to transfer updated files to the server was lacking. This has bugged me no end.

I know there are some ways around this – using Interarchy FTP seems to make the job easier but it is still a kludge (love this word) too far.

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My usual set up is to edit in Textmate, then switch to Transmit and upload the file, then refresh the browser. But if I am doing a lot of changes a minute, this can become tiresome. My thumb is now feeling the pain of constantly switching back and forth between applications.

So I downloaded Dreamweaver CS4 Beta to see if maybe I was missing something. On using it for two weeks I found that the reason I had changed to Textmate in the first place was its simplicity.

Dreamweaver is a bloated monster, which does have some amazing features; yet icons were too small, bugs abounded (yes I know it’s a beta) and the UI is crowded to the point of having to squint and hover over buttons to find out where you are.

So along comes Coda from Panic, the maker of the beautiful Transmit.

First off, the syncing between Transmit and Coda was wonderful. Suddenly on opening Coda all my Transmit favourites transferred into Coda library. This is a huge time saver.

I have started using it on new projects to get a feel for it. Everything works on the same level as Textmate, code hinting is perfectly implemented, it understands different syntax set ups well, and the server syncing is great. I can even have a black coding background, which is my preferred look.

The UI is uncluttered, and everything is much clearer than in Textmate or indeed many of the editors I have tried, and this is a good when all you want to focus on is the code.

Clips is a nice feature. A floating pane can sit along side your code, from which you can add frequently used code snippets.

There is a reference section which is fairly useful although I am not sure how much I would use it.

As I wrote at the beginning, there is always something missing from an app, but for now, I cannot find anything wrong except for a strange lack of shortcut references.

It is only available in OSX flavour and costs more than Textmate, but the cost is definitely worth it in my opinion. I feel more efficient now and my poor little thumb is also getting a much needed rest.

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1

JOF said,

Ive been using interarchy with Textmate. works well. like to give Coda a try. As you said the simple interface looks good

22nd July 2008, 19:07

2

David Hall said,

I know that Textmate can do everything and covers every language, but I really do not need some of the more advanced options. I just didn’t have the patience for getting the synching to work! So give Coda a try and see if you find it advanced enough for you.

22nd July 2008, 19:54

3

Rod Castello said,

I’ve been using TextWrangler for my coding. Simple key stroke shortcuts allow quick downloads of the files from the server and quick uploads with changes. I sometimes work directly on the server because I’m checking the results in multiple browser set-ups. Give it a try. Thanks for the advice on Coda I’ll give it a look.

By the way, your work looks good, nice coding.

30th August 2008, 14:12

4

David Hall said,

Cheers for that Rod.

Just downloaded TextWrangler there. Looks very nice.

With the new 1.5 update to Coda; improved find and replace across multiple local files, better Subversion control and grouping of clips, I will be sticking with Coda for now.

Always nice to know there is a decent alternative like TextWrangler out there if I need it.

01st September 2008, 8:06

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Looking for that ideal code editor. Might Coda be it?

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