A text editor is used to edit text files. Text editors are different from word processors such as Microsoft Word or WordPerfect, in that they do not add to documents Additional information about formatting. You could write an article in Word, since it contains tools for changing fonts, margins, and layout, but it defaults to inserting formatting and markup information directly into the file, which will confuse the compiler. If you open a .doc file in a text editor, you will see that most of the file is formatting codes. Text editors, however, do not add formatting codes, which makes the code easier to compile.

Why should I use a text editor?

Word processors have a different set of features than a traditional word processing program. For example, most will not allow you to insert photos or tables, or install double line spacing. Features of text editors vary, but there are a few features that most editors have. Below are some of the most common and useful functions.

Syntax highlighting

Syntax highlighting is a very useful feature. It consists in the fact that the editor will highlight certain words, or types, or syntax that are characteristic of the language. For example, if you have C++ highlighting enabled, the editor can make all C++ keywords green. This makes it much easier to follow the flow of your program. Here's another example: the editor might display all quoted text in light blue. This way, if you forgot to put opening or closing quotes, you'll quickly realize it because of the color of the text on the screen. The text editor can also indicate incorrect use of a square or parenthesis by highlighting them in red; if you have a closing parenthesis but no opening one, the color will tell you that you've made a syntax error somewhere.

Flexibility

How does the editor know which words to highlight? Good question. The editor knows what language you are programming in. Either you can specify the language yourself, or it can, like Vim, determine this by the file extension. If you're working with a file named code.cc , it will see .cc and know to use the C++ rules, but if you're working with one of code.html , it will apply HTML rules. Some editors know hundreds of languages, ranging from the trivial (C, Java, Perl) to the truly complex (TADS, ABAQUS). This means you can use the same editor to program in almost any language and still get the same features and command set you're used to.

Automatic indentation

Automatic indentation is perhaps the most useful feature of a text editor. You'd rather be dealing with code that looks like this:

// search for the minimum element in the matrix const int search_min(int **const array, const int kol_tasks,const int type_model) ( int min; for (int i = 0; i< kol_tasks; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < type_model; j++) { if (array[i][j] != -1) { min = array[i][j]; i = kol_tasks; j = type_model; } } } for (int i = 0; i < kol_tasks; i++) { for (int j = 0; j < type_model; j++) { if (array[i][j] < min && array[i][j] != -1) { min = array[i][j]; } } } return min; }

or code that looks like this?:

// search for the minimum element in the matrix
const int search_min(int **const array, const int kol_tasks,const int type_model)
{
intmin;
for (int i = 0; i< kol_tasks; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j< type_model; j++)
{
if (array[i][j] != -1)
{
min = array[i][j];
i = kol_tasks;
j = type_model;
}
}
}
for (int i = 0; i< kol_tasks; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j< type_model; j++)
{
if (array[i][j]< min && array[i][j] != -1)
{
min = array[i][j];
}
}
}
return min;
}

I thought so. The text editor will save you from having to set all the tabs yourself; it will add them automatically. This allows you to follow control flow through indentation, so you can make sure you're in the desired block code.

Quick navigation features

Unless your program is trivial, you'll want to be able to quickly find specific functions, instances of certain variables, or individual lines within it. Text editors usually have more features than word processors. For example, let's say while compiling a program you find that you have syntax errors on line 312. In Vim, all you have to do is type 312G and the cursor will move to line 312. (How does Vim know you don't want to type 312G characters in the document? More on that in the link at the end of the article).

Which text editor should I use? What is the difference between them? How can I get it? How much do they cost?

There are many, many different editors, among which Vim and Emacs are the most popular, powerful and are available on different OSes. Another popular editor, Notepad++ is a much improved version of Notepad. Most editors (Vim and Emacs included) are free, but some are shareware. I use Vim, but every editor has its fans. For a list of some of the best editors available for your platform, check out the Text Editors FAQ. (It's aimed at average users, but all of the editors listed are very good for writing C++ code.)

Every web designer and coder needs a good web page editor to create and edit HTML, CSS and JavaScript code. Notepad (Windows) and TextEdit (Mac) are great tools to start with, but as you gain more experience, you'll want to use a more robust and user-friendly tool.

There are hundreds of excellent editors from which you can choose the right one, but many of them are paid. And if you don’t want to violate copyright, but your budget doesn’t have the funds to purchase commercial product? This article looks at some great free editors.

• WYSIWYG editors. This graphic editor, which allow you to build a page layout and set styles visually, as in the well-known word processor MS Word. They are convenient tool to build a page design, although, as every experienced web designer knows, the code will still have to be “combed” to achieve an excellent result.
• Text editors. This is a tool for directly editing HTML and CSS code. Some editors are general purpose and do not have special options for web code support. Others are specialized for using web languages ​​such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP, and have built-in properties for quick input HTML tags, CSS properties, and so on. Many of these editors allow you to view a web page in separate window.

KompoZer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

KompoZer - great choice if you need visual editor on a limited budget

Komodo Edit is a good editor, easy to learn but powerful and extensible

Although this is an editor general purpose, it supports HTML and CSS, and has the property of contextual autocomplete of HTML tags and CSS properties, as well as a collection of code inserts for various elements HTML. To get the most out of Komodo, you need to install the HTML Toolkit extension, which contains such wonderful features as auto-close tags, preview type CSS, and a temporary text generator.

Komodo Edit allows you to view the pages you are editing in any installed browser, or use the built-in browser in a separate window, so you can edit and see the result of your changes at the same time.

The editor has a built-in function for uploading files to the site (FTP, FTPS, SFTP, or SCP), and you can also neatly group your files using the project manager option.

Very useful feature Code > Select Block. It highlights the current main HTML block, for example the current closed one div element or ul. Very convenient function, when you need to select an entire section on a page to copy or move.

Komodo Edit has a lot of powerful and useful features, such as using regular expressions for find/replace, the ability to external commands, and so on. Fortunately, the editor also has good help system, which makes it easy to harness the power of Komodo Edit.

Aptana Studio (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Aptana Studio is a complete integrated web application development environment with large set plugins. Although you can only use it as an HTML/CSS/JavaScript code editor

Notepad++ is a great replacement for Notepad on Windows. Although it doesn't have as many options as other editors, it's great for editing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other code files

PSPad is another general purpose editor for Windows with a wide range of features useful for HTML and CSS coders

jEdit is a cross-platform text editor with powerful macro command and plugin features. Install the XML plugin if you need to edit web pages

TextWrangler is a lightweight general purpose editor. Despite the lack of special functions for web development, it can be used to work with web pages.

Vim is definitely hard to learn, but once you get past the challenges, you'll never want to go back!

The granddaddy of text editors for programmers Vim (a direct descendant of the vi editor) is console editor text from open source. It is the default editor on almost all flavors of Unix, including Linux and Mac OS X. It is also available for use on Windows and many other systems.

Vim is not a system that you can install and start using right away without ever having worked with it before. Most editing commands include weird combinations like :wq and / . It also has three editing modes: mode inserts, in which text is entered; visual mode for selecting text; And command mode for entering commands. This functionality is a legacy of Unix from the days when there were no windows and no mouse.

Why was he on the list? If you master it, you will be convinced of its speed and power. With a few commands, you can do in a few seconds what might take minutes in other editors.

exists a large number of macros and plugins for Vim that make it easier to work with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, including syntax highlighting, autocompletion, HTML Tidy, and browser viewing. Here big list useful links:

• Vim Omni autocompletion
• HTML/XHTML editing in Vim
• home page

Fraise (Mac)

Fraise is an intuitive editor for Mac, with a set of features sufficient for web editing

Like TextWrangler and gedit, Fraise is a wonderful, lightweight editor that's a pleasure to use. It is a fork from the editor. It is relatively new and does not have a proper web server. It is currently only supported on Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), meaning if you are running version 10.5 you will have to download Smultron.

Fraise has some great options for web editing:

• Code highlighting for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP and several other programming languages.
• Command Close Tag(Command-T) to close the current tag. This really saves time when entering lists.
• Convenient preview with built-in browser (using WebKit), with a very convenient option Live Update? which updates the browser as soon as the markup and CSS on the page being edited has changed.
• Advanced Find option, which supports search/replace using regular expressions.
• Support for blocks to quickly enter HTML tags and CSS properties.
• Some handy commands for manipulating text, such as HTML validation and converting characters to HTML elements.

Fraise is worth checking out if you're a Mac user and need convenient editor with more features than the built-in TextEdit.

Hello, dear readers of the blog site. Today we will look at one of the best text editors, Notepad++, which has many useful features and is one of my most used programs for html editing, css and php code. And in general, this editor is popular among many programmers and developers.

In the article, I mentioned that web pages can even be created using the built-in Notepad in Windows. But create html and css files in a notebook, it’s practically the same as digging a hole with a digging stick. In a notepad, in addition to the ability to create and view text files, there is nothing.

By starting to use Notepad to correct files with html, css, php and other codes, you will save yourself a lot of time and nerves. At first, of course, using this editor may seem a little difficult to you. But if you learn to use at least the basic features of Notepad++, then it will be difficult for you to do without it.

Notepad has significant advantages not only over the standard Windows notepad, but also compared to other more complex programs for writing and editing various codes. For example, if you compare Notepad++ with popular program for designing Dreamweaver websites, it has many advantages. First of all, Notepad++ is absolutely free. And secondly, much easier and faster. In general, you can run it without installing it into the Windows operating system if you use portable version Notepad++, which will allow you to put the program on a flash drive and always carry it with you.

Let's talk about everything in more detail now.

Installing the Notepad++ editor, its capabilities and configuration

Download text editor Notepad++ is absolutely for free You can from the official website using this link. The downloaded kit includes several languages, including Russian.

Installing the program in operating system Windows does this in a completely standard way:

• double-click on the downloaded file with the left mouse button, the installation will start;
• in the window that opens, select the language you need;
• then press next several times, accepting license agreement by selecting the installation folder and components to be installed;
• then click install, wait a few seconds and Notepad ++ is installed.

If necessary, you can download Notepad++ Portable, which is portable version this text editor, which does not require installation.

Now let's go through the capabilities of this text editor:

1. The first thing that catches your eye is that Notepad++ is text editor with syntax highlighting several dozen of the most popular programming languages ​​including HTML, CSS, JavaScript and PHP. Look full list languages ​​for which the notepad can highlight syntax and you can select the desired language in the top menu of the program in the “Syntax” tab:

For example, if you set backlight html code , it will look something like this:

You can see in the figure that tags are highlighted in blue, attributes are highlighted in red, and plain text is highlighted in black. This is very convenient when editing code and finding errors in it. If necessary, you can configure syntax highlighting in the menu “Options” - “Define styles”. A window will open in which you can configure the font and syntax highlighting for the language you need:

If desired language no, then you can customize your highlighting in the same “Syntax” menu, there is an item “Set your language”:

In the window that appears, specify lists keywords language and configure their display styles. The languages ​​that are on the list were always enough for me, so I didn’t look into this function in detail.

In addition to the actual highlighting itself, for all these languages ​​the code is divided into blocks that can be collapsed and expanded using the minus and plus buttons, respectively. Also, the connection between elements is highlighted with a dotted line. And if, for example, you place the cursor on the opening html tag, then not only it, but also the closing tag associated with it will be highlighted in blue:

Notepad++ can also chain open and close parentheses and separate functions into separate blocks. All this helps very well to navigate the code and greatly simplifies the search for unclosed brackets and tags in the program text.

2. It often happens that when typing some code, we can forget how to write this or that HTML tag or PHP operator. To solve this problem, the Notepad++ text editor has implemented a function tooltips And automatic completion the word being typed. A hint is called up with the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Space” and all that remains is to select the right option from the suggested list:

You can enable automatic display of tooltips, without using hotkeys. To do this, click on the menu “Options” - “Settings”, in the window that opens, go to the “AutoComplete” tab and check the box next to “Enable on every input”:

In the same window you can enable automatic insertion closing html tags, brackets and quotation marks.

3. NotePad ++ makes it very easy change encoding file. For example, if you need to install the now popular UTF-8 encoding without BOM, then to do this, just go to the “Encodings” tab in the main menu and click on the “Convert to UTF-8 without BOM” item and save the file:

4. Notepad++ allows you to open and edit several files at once, unlike standard notepad. For this he uses bookmarks, similar modern internet browsers. So, each open file has its own bookmark, in which the file name is indicated and an image of a floppy disk is placed:

The floppy disk can be blue or red. The color of the floppy disk indicates whether changes to the file have been saved or not:

• blue floppy disk - file saved;
• red—changes not saved.

Tabs with open files can be closed, dragged and arranged in any order. Using the settings, you can make tabs appear vertically or hide them altogether, prohibit dragging and configure tab closing double click mice. All these settings can be found in the “Options” tab, “Settings” button:

A settings window will open, where in the “General” section, in the “Tab Bar” settings group, you can check or uncheck the necessary boxes:

In addition, this editor has the ability open two copies of the same document at once. To do this, just right-click on the tab with the required file and select “Duplicate in another area”:

After this, a second tab with this document will open:

Each bookmark has the ability to add notes or notes. They speed up file navigation and finding important code fragments in files with a large number of lines. To create a mark opposite the desired line In the left field, click the mouse to set a marker in the form of a blue dot:

Now, by pressing the “F2” key, the cursor will move between the notes - blue markers.

5. I consider it necessary to note that the Notepad++ editor is very convenient text search how in open file, and in several files located in specific folder. It is possible to use when searching regular expressions, which can be a powerful tool in the right hands. You can also search and replace. Together, search and replace and regular expressions can significantly speed up editing text documents.

Function text search can be called using top menu“Search”, in which the search type is selected, or by using the hotkey combination “Ctrl+F”, which opens the corresponding window with search settings:

In the window that opens, select the bookmark with the desired action (“Find”, “Replace”, “Search in files” or “Marks”) and set the parameters.

6. Often when working with html file, there is a need to see how it will look in the browser. To do this, Notepad++ has the ability to view html pages V Internet browsers Explorer, Firefox, Chrome and Safari. To perform this action, just click the “Run” button in the top menu and select running the code in the desired browser:

Also, in the editor in question, you can select any fragment of php code and click “Run” - “ Get php help", after which Notepad++ will redirect you to the http://php.net website page with a description of this code.

In the same tab of the “Launch” menu, it is possible to search for selected text fragments in search engine Google and the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. To do this, select a piece of text and press the “Google Search” or “Wikipedia Search” button and you will automatically be redirected to the Google or Wikipedia website page with the search results. True, for all these actions you need an Internet connection.

7. When you edit files, Notepad++ remembers all the changes you make. Therefore, at any time you can cancel the completed action ( take a step back). Moreover, you can roll back as many steps back or forward as you like, so you can make any changes to the code without the risk of irreversible consequences.

You can roll back and forth using the “Undo” and “Redo” items in the “Edit” tab in the top menu, or using the buttons in the form of curved arrows on the toolbar (if changes have been made, the arrows are colored green):

You can also undo actions using hotkeys:

• CTRL + Z - step back, analogous to the “Cancel” item;
• CTRL + Y - step forward, analogous to the “Repeat” item;

An important point is that Notepad++ constantly monitors the state of files opened in it, and if they are changed by another program or deleted, the editor will show you a warning that the file has been modified by another program and will prompt you to update it:

8. You can expand the capabilities of the Notepad++ test editor using various plugins. Some are installed by default, and the rest can be installed using the built-in plugin manager, which is called from the top menu, tab “Plugins” - “Plugin Manager” - “Show Plugin Manager”:

The “Plugin Manager” window will open, in which the first tab will contain a list of available plugins. For installation the required plugin check the box next to it and click the “Install” button.

Using plugins, you can compare files, check grammar, embed FTP, and generally turn an ordinary text editor into a powerful tool for creating websites.

I will try to describe the capabilities of the plugins in detail in one of the following articles, so do not forget to subscribe to blog updates. See you again!

PHP is a great language for creating web pages. On this moment it is supported by most hosting providers and is the leading programming language for creating dynamic websites. The beginning PHP creation is generally considered to be 1994, when Rasmus Lerdorf created a simple set of scripts for HTML processing documents... Perhaps because at the time of creation PHP handler written in C, the syntaxes of the languages ​​are very similar...

1 place. PhpStorm

PhpStorm is a cross-platform development environment for the PHP language. The program provides a multifunctional and intelligent editor for PHP languages, HTML and JavaScript. There are many features of the program, of which I would like to note the ability to analyze and code on the fly; the error prevention function ensures unsurpassed performance.

2nd place. Sublime Text

A simple, free, convenient editor for various codes. Among the advantages, one cannot fail to note the pleasant interface, ease of management, and flexible setup. Another undoubted advantage is that this editor is multi-platform. I really liked the multiple selection and editing function; other editors do not have this function. It works like this: you hold down Ctrl and after selecting lines of text, they are edited simultaneously. This editor also has a hotkey function for any action. There are not many plugins yet.

3rd place. Komodo IDE

Komodo is a professional IDE for major web programming languages, including Python, PHP, Ruby, Perl, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. You will enjoy this editor and develop faster using full set tools. Key features: Code folding, multi-window editing, smart syntax checking, highlighting, powerful snippets and convenient macros for tools and other productivity-enhancing features. A sleek interface frees up space and gives room for creativity.

4th place. Expression Studio

This is not just an application, it is a whole software package developed by the company Microsoft. This package includes: a visual editor, interface design tools, graphic design, and many other means.

5th place. PhpED

The program has many tools that are very useful in developing both in PHP and in other languages ​​that the editor supports. The built-in web server is used to debug web applications. You may spend a lot of time and effort setting up at first, but it's worth it. Another disadvantage of the program is that there is no distribution for MAC and Linux.

6th place. PHPEdit

This editor's arsenal includes not only syntax highlighting, but also a function automatic filling, code checking, there is also a built-in debugger. It’s not good that there are no Russian-language textbooks yet, and you won’t be fed up with the management. There are also no distributions for MAC and Linux.

7th place. Dreamweaver

When using this program, you can simultaneously view the design and code of the page, tooltips and auto-completion are also used. The search and replacement of symbols is conveniently organized. On the official website of the program you will find many commercial and non-commercial plugins for this program.

8th place. phpDesigner

This code editor is specially tailored for PHP; of course, with its help you can create and edit projects in other languages, but this will be ineffective. One of the shortcomings that immediately catches your eye is the lack of cross-platform functionality; this editor is only available for Windows. Unlike other editors, you cannot change the font size in it (who knows, maybe your eyesight is bad, but most programmers have exactly that). The program also lacks convenient vertical selection. But despite all the shortcomings, phpDesigner has best backlight code, it is very well organized, in general, try it and you will find out.

9th place. PHP Studio 2010

The editor itself is a development environment for PHP. It allows you to code faster using a large number of features such as: built-in server, web browser and much more. Like most editors, there is syntax checking, support different encodings, support for multiple development languages.

10th place. RadPHP

RadPHP is aimed at those who do not have much coding experience. Among the advantages, one cannot fail to note the syntax highlighting, the presence of a built-in browser and debugger, the ability to create breakpoints, and ease of use is immediately noticeable. There is technical support organized at top level. One of the shortcomings that immediately jumps out is that there are no distributions for MAC and Linux.

Disclaimer

I am young enough and inexperienced in the IT field to make any super-arguments, so everything listed below will be my personal subjective thoughts and reasoning. If someone disagrees with me, I will be only happy to support the discussion and discuss all this in the comments.

Now I work on Windows, in the future I may switch to Mac OS, so when choosing a text editor/IDE, I immediately emphasized cross-platform. I considered a little more options than I will list here, because I decided to highlight only the ones that caught my eye. I will try to briefly describe the view on different sides listed software products.

Standard tasks

Under standard tasks I mean banal layout tasks, i.e. HTML, CSS, maybe JavaScript. I will not emphasize those things that are everywhere, for example: changing color themes, project folder control system, etc.

An excellent editor for ASP.NET and node.js applications. The famous IntelliSense, the ability to work with classes and objects by reference. All in Microsoft style. There is a built-in debugger. I want it too emphasize, which in my opinion is an excellent replacement for MonoDevelop for .NET developers outside of Windows (here that is Visual Studio).

The editor is still under development, but work is progressing quite quickly, considering that it is Microsoft.

Bottom line

Summarizing the above, I made my choice. You don’t have to settle on the same criteria as me. I will be happy to discuss everything in the comments to the article.

Thank you for your attention!