Best Free Web Development IDE for Javascript HTML and CSS

Visual Studio Code is the best code editor for web development. And, it’s free. Whether you are just learning or are already a professional, there are so many Visual Studio Code extensions which will improve your productivity for writing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more!

Since Visual Studio Code is one of the best editors in the world, this article will cover everything that you want to know about visual studio code.

RJ TextEd

RJ TextEd is a full featured text and source editor with Unicode support. It is also a very powerful web (PHP, ASP, JavaScript, HTML and CSS) development editor. The functionality extends beyond text files and includes support for CSS/HTML editing with integrated CSS/HTML preview, spell checking, auto completion, HTML validation, templates and more. The program also has a dual pane file commander, as well as a (S)FTP client to upload your files.

RJ TextEd is developed in Delphi XE6 from Embarcadero and is released as Freeware.

It supports the following features (and more):

Auto completion.
Code folding.
Column mode.
Multi edit and multi select
Document map
Annotation bar
Advanced sorting.
Handles both ASCII and binary files.
CSS and HTML wizards.
Highlighting of colors in CSS/SASS/LESS.
Advanced color hint that can convert between color formats.
Dockable panels.
FTP and SFTP client with synchronization.
File explorer, text clips, code explorer, project manager…
Convert between code pages, Unicode formats and text formats.
Unicode and ANSI code page detection.
Open/Save UTF-8 encoded files without a signature (BOM).
Unicode file paths and file names.
HTML validation, format and repair.
Tools available like syntax editor, color picker, charmap

Visual Studio Code

Deemed the best JavaScript IDE for Windows, Mac, and Linux by TMS Outsource and voted the most popular in a 2018 survey by the State of JS, Visual Studio Code is a powerful source code editor that comes with a range of tools for JavaScript development. The IDE comes with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js. It also has plenty of extensions for other languages (such as C++, C#, Python, and PHP). Developed by Windows, Visual Studio Code is great for new programmers as it explains everything from HTML tags to syntax and error handling.

Features include:

Syntax highlighting
Autocomplete with IntelliSense based on variable types
Function definitions
Imported modules
The ability to debug code from the
Custom hotkeys
Templates and boilerplates
Integrating with GitHub
Intellisense, which provides smart completions based on variable types
Customizable themes

IntelliJ IDEA

JetBrains is a web development software company. They’ve built several IDEs as well as plugins for enhancing them. IntelliJ IDEA is their Java-focused platform:

However, if you want to work with all five of the languages we mentioned above (HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Python), IntelliJ IDEA may be the best of the JetBrains platforms for you.

Out of the box, you can use it to write and edit HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. With the help of two free plugins, you can add support for PHP and Python. As one of the more flexible tools in JetBrains’ arsenal, this IDE is adaptable to a wide range of projects.

Additionally, IntelliJ IDEA is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. With this tool, you’ll also gain access to the following key features:

Smart code completion that can predict elements in context and provide suggestions to speed up your workflow
Inline debugging to show you problems with your source code where they appear, so you don’t have to go digging for them
Out-of-the-box version control that enables you to turn back your project to earlier states
Integration with build tools such as Apache Maven, Gradle, and Webpack

IntelliJ IDEA comes in three different pricing options. The free, open-source Community version is available at no cost. However, it defeats the purpose of choosing an IDE with support for a wide range of languages, as it doesn’t include JavaScript editing.

Instead, you’re better off investing in IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate. Individual use licenses start at $149 per year, or you can purchase it for your team starting at $499 per year.

Atom

The simple editor for writing the JavaScript program is one of the best IDEs to find customization for doing everything without modifying the configuration file. The free, open-source code editor has got the self-label of ‘a hackable text editor for the 21st century. This is the tool that will ensure the completion of the code automatically the way you type. The best possible part is that it comes with an integrated package manager.You can get the opportunity of finding previews and replacing the text that is typed in the file or across the entire project. The best part is that it is highly supportive of the command palette for running the available commands.With one of the most popular JavaScript front-end tools, you can just go on with easy browsing and opening the file or the project. It gives easy access to finding and replacing the text as you’re typing in the file. You can find the use of it with the help of Windows, Linux, and OS X.

Light Table

Light Table is a “new” kind of IDE, it is a reactive work surface for the creation and exploration of a program.

Despite the dramatic shift toward simplification in software interfaces, the world of development tools continues to shrink our workspace with feature after feature in every release. Light Table is based on a very simple idea: we need a real work surface to code on, not just an editor and a project explorer. We need to be able to move things around, keep clutter down, and bring information to the foreground in the places we need it most. Here’s what the default mode looks like.

It is a standalone app, the fact that there’s an instance of webkit as the UI layer is completely an implementation detail. It will be packaged like a normal app and it will run locally just like any other editor you’re used to. This means that it can run on virtually any platform and will support the big three (linux/mac/windows) out of the gate.

Light table is based on a few guiding principles:

You should never have to look for documentation
Files are not the best representation of code, just a convenient serialization.
Editors can be anywhere and show you anything – not just text.
Trying is encouraged – changes produce instantaneous results
We can shine some light on related bits of code

Let’s take a look at how these things manifest themselves in Light Table.

PyCharm

PyCharm is a decent free IDE for web development in a number of languages, including Python, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, Node.js, and more. The IDE is compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux and has a paid sister software you can purchase if you’d like something more reliable. According to some users, the free version of PyCharm can be buggy, especially the autocomplete feature.