There are many software available these days that help you with writing, editing, and compiling code. But not all of them are equally good. It is important to have a quality program to be able to write code with ease.
The very purpose of using the best coding software is so that you can concentrate on actual programming without having to worry about distractions or errors caused by using an inferior product.
edX
EdX is an open-source higher education program governed by MIT and Harvard, making it another high-caliber resource where you can learn to code for free online. The site offers over 600 great courses under the “computer science” category, teaching various coding languages. Because it features courses from world-class universities, it’s easily one of the best websites to learn coding for free.
Free programming courses offered: Java, C#, Python, and many more
Read our full edX review here.
5. Codewars
Codewars offers a fun and unique way to learn coding. With a martial-arts theme, the program is based on challenges called “kata.” Complete the coding lessons for beginners to earn honor and progress to higher ranks. This is a fun way to learn programming online if you’re motivated by a little gamification! After all, learning code for beginners is easier when you enjoy it.
Coding challenges they offer: CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java, Clojure, and Haskell
Tynker
While Tynker is primarily geared for kids and parents or educators looking to take their children’s and student’s education further, there’s a lot you can learn from this app. For starters, the app supports not only game design but also basics of robotics and more advanced languages such as JavaScript and Python. The app offers challenges, quizzes, and even level editors and character creation. The app is available for iOS devices.
Enki App
Try the Enki app if you want a personalized track that will allow you to improve your programming skills. You can easily track your progress as you learn Python, Linux, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Java or Git. What makes this app different is the fact that you can set daily goals to learn programming and keep track of your streak. Each lesson offers a summary of the main concept for the day as well as an attached article that goes more in-depth. Enki is available for iOS and Android devices.
Programming Hub
Programming Hub was named Google Play’s Editor’s Choice app and with good reason. It supports a wide array of languages and delivers the lessons in bite-sized interactive lessons and courses. Supported languages include Java, C++, C programming, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and more. What’s more, the app was developed in collaboration with Google experts. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices.
Easy Coder
Easy Coder is an Android app that focuses on teaching Java programming exclusively. The app provides step-by-step interactive lessons, quizzes, and programming challenges which will teach you the basic programming concepts and prepare you to develop your skills even further. Lessons are short and concise so that you consume them even if you’re on the go and the app also comes with practical examples to clarify the programming concepts.
Vim
Price: Free | Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Another software that is reportedly comprehensive and can be considered an IDE within itself is called: Vim. Vim is a favorite for many old-school programmers, as well as the keyboard enthusiasts. This code editor has a rich history; it originated from the Vi editor (1976), and it’s still being developed today.
The program is navigated entirely via the keyboard, making it much faster and more efficient – but only if you make the effort to learn how to operate it. If you have the time to learn it, Vim can really increase your coding productivity!
Key features:
- Rock-solid and very fast.
- Extensive plug-in support.
- Supports hundreds of programming languages and file formats.
- Exceptionally low memory footprint.
- Powerful search and replace
- Supports multiple tabs, allowing you to work on multiple files.
- Performs complex tasks with a few commands
Sublime text
Price: $80 (free indefinite preview) | Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Much like Vim, Sublime text is known for its top-notch performance. It comes with all the features you would expect from a powerful code editor and a lot more too. It is lightweight, open, and ready to edit your file almost as soon as you’ve managed to click the button. This responsiveness is one of the things that makes it the best code editor in its class.
If you want to get the most out of Sublime Text, you need to install some extra plugins. Sublime Text is free to download and start using but for extended use, you’ll need to shell out $80 to get a license.
Key features:
- Lightweight and speedy
- Lets you edit multiple lines simultaneously.
- Extremely extendable.
- Fast customization of the editor to suit your likes
- Supports split editing
- Powerful API and Package Ecosystem
- Auto indentation
Read more: 11 Best Text Editors For Windows, Mac, Linux & More
Atom
Price: Free | Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
It is a cross-platform code editor created by developers for developers. Atom is a ‘hackable’ text editor, and what it means is that it allows new and intermediate programmers the chance to create their own text editor without years of programming experience. Sounds amazing, doesn’t it?
One of the most important things for all developers is collaboration while working to share ideas. Atom allows you to do this right from your editor. Very much like WordPress, Atom users can submit packages and themes for the software. Earlier, Atom had performance and stability problems, but those have diminished significantly as it has matured.
Key features:
- Provides smart options for auto-completion.
- Supports cross-platform editing.
- Quick & reliable
- Integrated with Git & Github
- Built-in package manager
- Thousands of plugins available
- Easy access to projects and files
Read more: Software Design Document: What, Why, and How? (Template Included)
Visual studio code (VS Code)
Price: Free | Platform: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
Belonging from the family of software developed by the tech giant Microsoft, Visual Studio Code is known to be one of the most fully-featured, well-rounded code editor. It is an extensible, open-source code editor that supports a wide selection of programming languages and frameworks, from the familiar C, C++, and C# to modern languages like Go, Rust, and Node.js.
Visual Studio Code has many awesome features that can greatly improve your development workflow. One of the most effective and time-saving features of this application is its infusion with A.I. This means that all of the code that the developer writes in the application is read by the software. As a result, it generates auto-responses for code writing, based on variable types, function definitions, and essential modules.
Key features:
- Code refactoring & debugging.
- Easily extensible and customizable.
- Easy working with Git and other SCM providers.
- Split Views, Zen Mode.
- Built-in debugger.
- Can detect if any snippet of code is left incomplete.
- Comes with built-in support for web applications.
Espresso
Price: $99 | Platform: Mac
Espresso is a web editor for Mac that makes building, improving, and publishing websites a treat. It comes with a beautiful interface and a really powerful code editor. The software is beginner-friendly and provides lots of great features for advanced users as well.
With Espresso, you can finally stop spending so many hours trying to configure an unstable server. The latest version has a Clodette menu, that allows you to edit and sync servers automatically, as well as publish your content quickly.
Key features:
- The sleek and modern interface makes the app easier to use
- Allows you to drag and drop code snippets
- See a live preview of your design as you code
- XRay preview to quickly make changes with ease
- Many plugins and themes.
- Effortlessly navigates your code structure with groups, style previews, and Quick Filter
- Comes with an extensive plug-in API for syntaxes, formatting, and more.
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BBEdit (Earlier known as Text Wrangler)
Price: Free | Platform: Mac
Of all the code editors for Mac, BBEdit is definitely one of the oldest. This powerful and feature-rich text editor comes with a very intuitive user interface that makes it super easy to browse files and work on projects. It supports 44 programming languages including HTML, JavaScript, Perl, Python, VBScript, and SQL. It is designed and crafted for the purpose of editing, searching transformation, and manipulation of text.
Key features:
- Supports auto indentations.
- Offers syntax highlighting for many programming languages
- Allows you to convert character encoding of text documents.
- Has advanced search and replace tools.
- Supports the comparison of text files.
- Store and insert frequently used text items and custom tags
- Integrates smoothly into existing workflows.
Textmate
Price: Free | Platform: Mac
TextMate is a high-end source code editor for Mac OS which looks super cool. It is a versatile text editor with a unique and innovative feature set. It includes ready-made libraries of macros and snippets of source code or text (snippets), suitable for reuse for many programming languages. Without any doubt, if you are looking for a free text editor for Mac, you should consider TextMate.
Key features:
- Easy clipboard management
- Sophisticated find and replace tool
- Auto-Indent for Common Actions
- Foldable code blocks
- Visual Bookmarks to Jump Between Places in a File
- It features Marcos that eliminates repetitive work.
- Highlights syntax
BlueFish
Price: Free | Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD.
Bluefish is a powerful editor that is mainly for experienced web designers and programmers. It supports many programming and markup languages, but it focuses on editing dynamic and interactive websites.
If you are a fan of working on dozens of different software at once and not wasting time for the code editor to take its sweet time to run your code, then Bluefish is the code editor that was designed with you in mind. BlueFish is an ultra-fast code editor that supports a variety of markup languages. The tool is so efficient that it loads a complete website within a second!
Key features:
- User-customizable toolbar for quick access to often-used functions.
- Auto-recovery of changes in modified documents after a crash or shutdown.
- Loads hundreds of files within seconds.
- Multithreaded support for remote files.
- Supports nearly every programming language.
- Anti-aliased text window.
- Multiple document interface (Easily open 500+ documents).
Conclusion
Intermediate software is code editor for beginners. If you are looking for a code editor, there are thousands of them out there to choose from. There are plenty of free and paid options you can choose from. In this list, I have included some of the best free and paid options to choose from.