Have you ever wanted to write a piece of code directly from your browser? Thanks to online code editors, you can.
These online tools help developers easily share and track code snippets, copy and paste HTML tags without using a mouse, format their text correctly, and more – all from a web-based interface.
PLAYCODE
PlayCode is a web development prototype playground. It is an easy-to-use code editor primarily designed for JavaScript-based project development. You can also create a complete web development project using HTML, CSS, or any other user interface libraries or frameworks.
AWS Cloud9
🔗 https://aws.amazon.com/cloud9/
AWS Cloud9 is a cloud-based IDE designed to run and debug your code online. Cloud9 supports JavaScript, Python, PHP, and several other programming languages. It supports code collaboration and pair programming, enabling you to share your code environment with a co-developer in just a few clicks.
With AWS Cloud9, it is easy to write and debug a serverless application. It also provides the environment for testing and debugging Lambda functions locally. If you are using an Amazon EC2 instance, AWS Cloud9 comes free with it.
W3Schools
🔗 https://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_basic
If you love reading tutorials and code examples from W3Schools, you probably know about the TryIt editor already. This is a simple editor that supports code using Java, Python, JavaScript, and more.
GitHub CodeSpaces
🔗 https://github.com/features/codespaces
This is a cloud-based online hosted environment for you to develop using Visual Studio Code. At the present time, GitHub CodeSpaces is in its beta version and you need to request access. However it looks like a really promising tool to open codespace directly from your GitHub repository and perform edits.
Sublime Text 3
The best code editor overall – but you’ll have to pay for it
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $80 (free indefinite preview)Platform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: Sublime HQTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Lightweight and speedy+Extremely extendable
REASONS TO AVOID
-Not free-Nagging popup
Sublime Text really changed the way the best code editors work. It’s 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 overall. If you want to open a file and make a quick edit, waiting a few seconds for loading may not sound like much, but the delay can quickly grow tedious.
Another big benefit of Sublime Text is that it’s wildly extensible, with a huge and ever-growing list of plugins available to install via the package manager. Options include themes to customise the editor’s appearance, code linters (which can assist with more quickly locating any errors in your code), Git plugins, colour pickers, and more.
Sublime Text is free to download and start using, but for extended use you’ll need to shell out $80 for a licence – and the programme will remind you fairly regularly about payment until you cough up. If you decide to pay, you can use the same licence key for any computer you use, so you can enter the same code on all your machines to get rid of the payment reminder popup. The paid licence, however, is perhaps Sublime Text’s biggest downside since there are a number of competitive products available at no cost.
Visual Studio Code
The most fully featured, well-rounded code editor
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: MicrosoftTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Good for complex, larger projects+Very robust+Built-in Git support
REASONS TO AVOID
-Slow to start up
Visual Studio Code is a code editor developed by Microsoft, and surprisingly, it’s open-source software. Of all the code editors in our list, this is probably the closest to being an IDE. It’s very robust – and it’s one of the slower programs when starting up. However, while using it, VS Code is quick and can handle quite a few interesting tasks, such as quick Git commits or opening and sorting through multiple folders’ worth of content.
VS Code has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. It’s continually growing its user base and drawing developers away from other editors. It has a built-in terminal, as well as built-in Git support, both of which are big winners among fans. The ‘IntelliSense’ feature offers autocompletion of code and data on the parameters of functions and known variable names.
Codespaces
A browser-based code editor from Microsoft and Github
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: BrowserDeveloper: MicrosoftTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Work from anywhere+Good for collaboration+Functions offline
REASONS TO AVOID
-New and untestedhttps://685e76342975bc454550390a35b82c7b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Github’s owner, Microsoft, made it clear that its vision for the 2020s is all about the cloud, and here’s a good example. Launched in May 2020, Codespaces is a browser-based code editor based on Visual Studio Code. It has support for Git repos, extensions and a built-in command line interface so you can edit, run, and debug your applications from any device. Obviously this enables you to work from anywhere, and makes collaboration with other devs easier.
Code-editing functionality in GitHub will always be free, although Microsoft plans to offer simple pay-as-you-go pricing for Codespaces cloud environments. You launch Codespaces straight from Github, which makes for a nice bit of synergy. If you prefer not to use a browser, that’s fine too, as support for Visual Studio Code and Visual Studio is built in.https://685e76342975bc454550390a35b82c7b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Atom
The best free code editor, with a friendly UI
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: GithubTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Integrated with Git and GitHub+Quick and reliable
REASONS TO AVOID
-Slow to launch-Historical performance issues
Atom is an open-source code editior developed by GitHub. In its initial development, it was heavily influenced by the new style of editor made popular by Sublime Text, but there are key differences. Atom is free and open-source, and it offers easy out-of-box integration with Git and GitHub. It has historically had performance and stability problems, but those have diminished as Atom has matured. It’s true that it still launches more slowly than some code editors, but it’s just as reliable and quick to use as any once it’s running. See more in our piece on how to get more from Atom text editor.https://685e76342975bc454550390a35b82c7b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Vim
Command line software that’s a favourite among old-school programmers
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: FreePlatform: Windows, Mac OS, LinuxDeveloper: Vim.orgTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Rock-solid and very fast+Good for keyboarders+Included with Linux OS and macOS
REASONS TO AVOID
-No UI – navigated via keyboardhttps://685e76342975bc454550390a35b82c7b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Vim is perhaps the most contentious code editor in this list. A command line software included natively with Linux operating systems and macOS and available for download for Windows, Vim is a favourite for many old-school programmers and keyboard enthusiasts. It’s 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. It’s also extremely customisable – to the extent that a command line program can be customised). You can use a number of keyboard shortcuts to speed up code editing, and even better, create customised commands to fit your own workflow.
Without a doubt, Vim makes for the steepest learning curve and perhaps one of the worst user experiences in our selection due to its complete lack of UI. Learning how to navigate the program isn’t so challenging, but building the muscle memory of shortcuts and figuring out how best to customise the editor (which you really need to do to get the best from it) takes a lot longer. However, that said, Vim is incredibly stable, fast, and a joy to use for veteran command line aficionados and new, interested users alike. If you have the time to learn, Vim can really increase your coding productivity, and, with so little UI to consider, it’s a nearly seamless cross-platform experience.
Espresso
One of the best code editors for Mac users
SPECIFICATIONS
Price: $99Platform: Mac OSDeveloper: KangacodeTODAY’S BEST DEALSVISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Sleek, easy-to-use interface+Live preview while you code
REASONS TO AVOID
-Can be buggy-Mac-only
Espresso is a long-standing option for Mac users. Some have found it to have become buggy of late, with some unexpected crashes, but its sleek interface, live preview and drag and drop functionality make it easy for beginners to use for front-end design work. It’s divided into three columns – your files, the code editor and the navigator, which lets you see the various sections of code you’re working on. The live styling feature allows you to change CSS code for live websites and see the changes in the preview without publishing or saving. It costs $99, and there’s a free trial.
Conclusion
The online code editors listed above are available for free, don’t require you to sign up, and provide syntax highlighting for over 35 languages. This really makes it easy to get your code right.