Developers use IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) a lot. IDEs help a developer work with a computer by simplifying many tasks they do on a daily basis.
There are a lot of IDEs for developing website applications. In fact, most IDE software is free for download nowadays. In this article, I will present to you some of the top IDE Software around the web that will make web development easier for you”
Visual Studio: an industry-standard software
Arguably, one of the best IDE for frontend development is Microsoft Visual Studio. It also has a very popular free open source derivative Visual Studio Code, which can be considered a lite version. However, don’t let this cliche fool you – it’s a powerful JavaScript editor in its own right. The research, conducted by the State of JS, indicates that this was the most widely used text editor in 2018.
Followed by VS Code, SublimeText, Vim, WebStorm, and Atom, it has over 14k users out of 20k survey participants. Apart from JS, it supports 30 programming languages such as Ruby, Python, C#, etc. If you are interested in Ruby development, we have this article for you.
Microsoft visual studio is a powerful IDE that is very resource-intensive and mainly used for serious software development in C, C++, .NET, and C#. It has excellent features like simultaneous editing planning and scaffolding. It spots industries best Code Intel and has inbuilt debuggers. In other words, it is a proper industry-grade IDE.
However, for applications like JavaScript, it is excessive to say the list, that is why its little brother exists.
Visual Studio Code has neither a full work environment nor many work planning features. However, it is lighter and more customizable. Also, It does not require a powerful desktop to run it. It has a similar IntelliSense feature. It already has integrated Git-support, so one can quickly run pull, push, and commit operations directly from the application.
This editor has a first-class debugger, which comes in very handy when dealing with Node.js and JS-based applications in general. The application starts in the debug mode that can also be activated at any time. The debugger also has some distinctive features as call steak, setting breakpoints and watch variables.
It is widely used and has a dedicated community. This cross-platform has an integrated terminal and, despite being light, still takes a decent time to load a project. Especially if you try comparing it to Bash or PowerShell performance. Like Microsoft, it has some buggy updates, so it’s better to exercise caution when updating it.
Lastly, UI is very customizable, and the editor has many themes, which is essential. If you are looking for the best free IDE for HTML, CSS, JavaScript for big and intricate projects, Visual studio code might be the right choice for you.
Webstorm. A premium JavaScript development environment
Webstorm is another excellent option when you need to develop something in JavaScript. It is made by a well known IDE developer JetBrains and is offered alongside other products, specialized for languages different than JavaScript.
This software is not free, and the price starts from 59 euros per year for an individual user and 129 euros per year for companies. However, don’t skip it because of a paywall yet. This software might be worth it, after all. Not in the least for its exceptional JavaScript IDE debugger functionality.
There are also discounts and free licenses for educational establishments and non-profit organizations. Webstorm is one of the best supported and updated offerings on the market at the moment. So new and vital features usually make its way to the Webstorm first. For instance, it was the only IDE with JSX support when it first came out in 2015.
It has functional integration with GitHub and other VCSs. It is a JavaScript and Typescript IDE at heart. It has excellent support for Cordova, Ionic, React, React Native, Angular, Node.js, Vue.js, and other popular JavaScript frameworks. By the way, we have already covered Vue.js in greater detail here. It also has necessary syntax support for over 20 other languages for the projects that include bits of code written in other languages.
Webstorm has many great features. For instance, on-the-go editing, refactoring, excellent navigation, and code completion. Many consider Webstorm’s auto debugging and code testing functionality best on the market. Webstorm also has an excellent smart template functionality.
Last but not least, it has a decent UI customization and themes. Yes, it is a seemingly unimportant feature if compared to other features. However, a software developer spends most of his life staring at the code in the editor, and there is nothing wrong with making his life more comfortable.
The IDE is customizable and allows you to keep the history of any changes done. So, you can go back and review the code at any time. It’s probably the best IDE for frontend development available at the moment.
Atom. A strong contender for the best free JavaScript IDE
Atom is an IDE built by GitHub and has a great deal of support from Facebook. It’s a simplistic yet mighty text editor. It’s free, open-source, and has the best GitHub integration. Atom has capabilities for easy editing and project browsing in one single window.
By default, the application has a right but somewhat excessive built-in package. Also, it is advised to remove unnecessary components to reduce slowdowns. Atom is good at its intended purpose – running big complicated projects that can utilize all of its modular features.
However, there is also a downside to it. Atom is resource-hungry and can be slow even on powerful machines, especially, if the packages are not appropriately managed.
You can download a lot of packages and templates for Atom, change them or make your own. The application is extremely customizable, which is both good and bad. It can be hard to set it up the way you need it, especially for a beginner. However, after you do a proper project set up, it helps the work immensely. It has the best UI customization features, and you can make it look the way you want.
After Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub, many people were concerned about the future of Atom. After all, it directly competes with Visual Studio Code! However, there is no indication that the Atom has suffered from it as of now.
Atom also lacks user support and help section, increasing a barrier to entry. It has a real-time collab feature, which is excellent for such a powerful tool and is even better if you take into account that it is free. It makes it a unique proposition on the market.
At the moment, Atom looks like a strong contender for the best IDE for frontend development title.
Brackets. An Adobe JavaScript IDE for free. Impossible!
Brackets is a free JavaScript editor from Adobe. Surprisingly, Adobe is known for premium pretty software for creative professions. Well, it’s not as surprising if you consider that web development becomes less technical and more creative.
Brackets has been created by developers who know web design and frontend profoundly. This editor is light and quick. It has an excellently intuitive interface, so it is suitable for beginners. Beginners also don’t need a vast set of features that other IDEs provide. It is a perfect tool for web developers who prefer to code casually.
Brackets has focused on making visual tools and outstanding preprocessor support. Another advantage is that this software allows working on the code without opening multiple windows. UI is customizable to a certain degree but, overall, slick and intuitive. However, that’s what expected from Adobe products now.
By the way, Brackets supports syntax highlighting for an impressive list of languages and the most popular frameworks. However, some advanced features are only available for HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
Speaking of Live Preview, this is the most critical feature for this software. It allows seeing a result in a browser live while you edit, which is very useful in frontend.
Komodo IDE. Another one of the top JavaScript IDEs
Komodo IDE Is a relatively minimalistic and quick IDE for multilingual use. It has a full set of IDE functionality, like debugging, unit testing, and custom workspaces. Komodo has syntax correction for most coding languages and a live preview, which are welcome features for the frontend development.
Unfortunately, its Code Intel only works with Python, PHP, Perl, Tcl, Go, Ruby, Node.js, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Code Intel for C++ is also there, in a limited capacity. Another downside is pricing. It can range from $7 a month for personal use to $490 a month for an enterprise. However, if you need a multilingual work environment, that might be an option for you.
The software comes with a 21-day free trial to make sure that’s what you need. Nevertheless, with the vast number of features, Komodo can contend for the best editor for JavaScript.
Conclusion
Developing web apps or sites can be done using many different kinds of software. There are thousands of different IDEs you could use, but I’ll try to go over the top IDEs that will help you develop your web applications quicker and easier in this article.