We all know how coding is one of those skills that make us more productive and innovative and how it open the door to endless possibilities. What we don’t know, however, like what is the best code editor or which code editor will be the most apt for our needs.
Learning to code can be fun, but the problem is that the code editors are not so good. And it can be frustrating when you cannot find the right code editor for your experiments. But there are so many free Code editor available on the internet, so how do you know which one you should choose? Here’s a list to help you choose the best free code editor 2021 according to me
Dcoder
Dcoder is a mobile coding IDE especially designed to hone your coding skills on mobile. It is a complete package to learn and comprehend the programming languages from a wide range e.g from C to Ruby. It includes Rich text editor supporting syntax highlight and packed with all the necessary tools required to give you all the edge an IDE or Code Compiler can give. The compile process is made through cloud APIs, that means that these features aren’t available without internet.
Not only you can code, you can debug the code to see compilation errors and Result on the same screen. Its more alike port of your favourite Code Editors like Notepad++ or Sublime Text with compilation power. It offers Custom Themes too, Editable font Size for the Editor and much more. This app offers in-app purchases.
Atom
Atom, text and source code editor is developed by GitHub. It is an open source tool and the user can use it as an IDE.
Features:
- It has a built-in package manager.
- It provides smart options for auto-completion.
- You can open the tool in multiple panes for comparing.
- It supports cross-platform editing.
- It provides more features for finding & replacing text, and for searching files.
Pros:
- Easy to use.
- It provides some special developer tools.
- Easy to customize UI.
Cons:
- For writing packages, you will need a Coffee Script.
Tool Cost /Plan Details: Free
Official URL: Atom
Visual Studio Code by Microsoft
Visual Studio Code (or VS Code) has quickly become the standard for software development since its release in 2015. Like most Microsoft products these days, VS Code is available on all major platforms. That means that developers on Mac, Windows, and Linux can use this incredibly powerful tool. Not quite an IDE (that’s actually a separate product altogether), VS Code can take on most of the tasks of an IDE with the right configuration and plugin library. The community for VS Code is incredibly passionate, and that works to everyone’s benefit. With VS Code being open source, that community works exceptionally hard to keep VS Code competitive with the rest of the field. Written in Node.js and Electron, you can be sure the code isn’t going to become outdated or lag behind any time soon.
Key Features
- cross-platform
- open source via MIT license (Github link)
- built-in Git (including merge conflicts, diff checking, and modified file tracking from within the editor)
- in-editor debugging
- large library of extensions and plugins
- compatible with nearly every programming language
- very lightweight in comparison to other, similarly robust editors
- quick and responsive
- specific Linux distros for Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Red Hat, and Debian
- IntelliSense highlighting and autocomplete works like a dream
Platforms
- MacOS
- Windows
- Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, SUSE, Red Hat, and Debian in particular)
VS Code is for you if…
…you use code editors. It’s that good, and it’s that popular. While some people might be put off by the Microsoft development, that isn’t a particularly big deal with VS Code. Sure, the UI shares similarities between some of the MS products (which can be good or bad for you), but that’s purely superficial. VS Code works great on every platform we’ve tried it on, and there hasn’t been a noticeable difference in performance between the three, either. Even though VS Code does have a ton of packages you can download to customize the code editor to whatever you want it to be, you don’t have to. It works well from the moment you first run it, and the integrated Git and debugger just work. You don’t have to fiddle with them to get them configured well.
Price: FREE
Quoda Code Editor
Quoda is a sophisticated and easy to use source code editor or IDE, much like Notepad++, Textmate or Sublime Text, with integrated support for SFTP/FTP(S) servers and cloud storage (Dropbox and Google Drive). Other features include downloading URL source code, Code-completion, auto-encoding detection, brace matching, auto-indentation, line bookmarking, colour picker, HTML formatting, and even more – many of these unmatched by other Android IDEs or text editors.
If you want to code productively away from your PC, Quoda is a must have, allowing you to carry a text editor and IDE like Notepad++, Textmate or Sublime Text in your pocket to code when on the move.
Sublime Text
The sublime text editor is for Windows, Linux, and Mac.
Following is the list of supported languages:
| ActionScript | AppleScript | ASP | C | C++ |
| Python | YAML | TCL | PHP | Clojure |
| R | XSL | Shell Script | Lua | CSS |
| Rails | XML | Objective-C | HTML | Go |
| Scala | SQL | Makefile | JavaScript | Java |
Features:
- It can detect and highlight syntax errors.
- For the whole project, it can automatically create an index for class, method, and function.
- Provides smart options for opening files, jumping to symbols etc.
- It allows you to edit multiple lines simultaneously.
- With the help of a JSON file, you can almost customize everything.
Cons:
- No package manager.
- The print option is not available
Pros:
- You can select and edit multiple lines.
- Easy to use for beginners.
Tool Cost /Plan Details: You have to buy the license for USD $80. A free trial is also available.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is an extremely popular text editor. That is in part because it’s free and GPL-licensed open source. Even more than that, though, the reason it’s one of the best text editors around is that it’s simple. It doesn’t try to be Atom or VS Code or Sublime Text. It’s a code editor, plain and simple. Beginners and veterans can get everything they need out of it. Coders and developers often recommend this one as a great option for someone just getting into code editing and might be overwhelmed by the environment offered up by others. Notepad++ is a wonderful, simple option not just for beginners, but developers at any level. A lot of professional devs use Notepad++ as their daily driver because it’s light, effective, and does what it needs to do.
The downside: the software is Windows-only. Many devs are on Mac or Linux, but for those living in Microsoft’s turf, this is a great option to try out since it’s free. You’ve got nothing to lose. Especially if you’re coming new to the field.
Key Features:
- Syntax Highlighting
- Syntax Folding
- Search/Replace
- Highly customizable
- Auto-completion
- Multi-document tab interface
- Zoom in and out
- Multi-language environment supported
- And more
Platforms:
- Windows
- Linux (a forked version exists)
Notepad++ is for you if…
…you are new to code editors and want to ease your way in. Additionally, if you want a resource-light option, Notepad++ is it. Because of how simple and easy the developers have made it, you’re not going to bog down your system as you work. That means you might not be loading gigabytes of information at once, but for run-of-the-mill web development tasks and so on, Notepad++ is more than enough.
Price: FREE
Vim
Vim text editor provides support for hundreds of programming languages. In UNIX and Mac, it is known as vi. Its latest available version is 8.1.
Features:
- Syntax highlighting.
- It supports editing of compressed files.
- It provides support for mouse interaction.
- Spelling check.
Pros:
- Recording macros.
- It supports many programming languages.
- Availability of search and replace functionality.
Cons:
- It is difficult to learn.
- It provides limited IDE features.
Tool Cost /Plan Details: Free
Conclusion:
We’re doing this whole web development thing right now. And the fact of the matter is, you need a text editor to be able to create web pages. And that’s where code editors come into play. They are there to help you create web pages in any language possible. Whether if it’s HTML or static or dynamic, they’ll have your back all the way. There are so many different types of editors out there which makes it quite overwhelming for newcomers. Simply because it’s difficult to pick the right one.