The best code editors are hard to choose. If you are looking for the best code editor that provides multiple languages, then Visual Studio Code is right for you since it is compatible with many languages, one of which is PHP.
If you are not familiar with PHP or do not have any ideas on developing your website yet, you might want to consider Sublime Text.
Whether you’re a newbie developer or a veteran code junkie, you need a code editor which is robust enough to handle everything you can throw at it. That might be an essential part of your toolset. Since this is an ongoing search for every developer in the field, I wanted to give out some of the best options, including free and premium.
Here are the best code editors you will also find a code editor mac free, the best code editor for Windows, and the best free code editor for Mac.
Benefits of Code Editor for Mac
Code editors – an essential part of every software development or programming task. Every code editor has its own interface, functionality, pros & cons. That’s why I decided to reveal the most known code editors that will help you write your next projects’ code more efficiently.
Benefits
- Provides plenty of customization options via themes.
- Can handle massive files with ease.
- Comes with some of the most powerful search functions in the market.
- Includes a smart code completion feature that supports most languages.
- Syntax highlighting in PHP, Perl, Java and JavaScript.
Best Free Code Editor for Mac
You are a Mac user and you want to start building websites. You think to yourself, ‘What’s the best code editor for Mac?’. Everybody is telling you to use Atom, Brackets, or Sublime Text. But you see no reason to invest in an editor when there are some awesome free code editors available for Mac OS X?
One of the most annoying things a developer can have is a bad code editor, but luckily this doesn’t have to be the case. So let me just say this upfront – there is no “best” code editor. There are only editors that best suit a developer’s needs. That being said, today I am going to be showing you some of the best free code editors for Mac so you can get on with your work ASAP!
TextWrangler
TextWrangler is a text and code editor for Mac OS. It is now known as BBEdit. It has integrated support from Mac OS X’s Spelling service. TextWrangler is the text editor for Mac. It is not free but offers good features at a small price.
For syntax coloring and function navigation, it supports the following languages:
| ANSI C | C++ | Fortran | Java | Markdown |
| Objective C | Perl | Tcl | Tex | Object Pascal |
| Python | PHP | Rez | Ruby | Unix Shell Scripts |
Features:
- It supports the comparison of text files.
- It allows for multiple Undo.
- It supports auto indentations.
- You can split the editing windows.
- Extensive FTP & SFTP support.
Pros:
- It supports full-screen mode.
- Powerful search and replace option.
- It has rectangular text selection.
Cons:
- It is available only for Mac OS.
Tool Cost/Plan Details: $49.99
Official URL: TextWrangler
BBEdit
BBEdit is a beautiful code and HTML editor for Mac. It comes with all the advanced features of a powerful code editor. Syntax highlighting, advanced find and replace, autocompletion, quick lookup, multiple tabs, splittable editing windows, and much more.
BBEdit costs $49.99, you can also download a free trial version.
UltraEdit
UltraEdit is a powerful HTML and Code editor available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It comes with a built-in file comparison utility, autocompletion, advanced layout, multi-tab, multi-pane editors, and syntax highlighting for the most popular programming languages.
UltraEdit costs $79.5 with a limited free trial version available for download.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is a popular free-to-use code editor written in C++. It uses pure win32 API which offers greater execution speed and small program size. It is one of the best code editors that run only in the window environment, and it uses GPL License.
Platform: Windows
Price: Free
Features:
- This free text editor supports syntax highlighting for languages like PHP, JavaScript, HTML, and CSS
- Auto-completion: Word completion, Function completion
- This free code editor provides macro recording and playback
- User-defined Syntax highlighting and folding
- Entirely customizable GUI
- Multi-view and Multi-Language support
Features:
- It supports Macros recording and playback.
- For the ease of use, it provides many features like adding bookmarks, finding and replacing tasks, auto-completion, and syntax highlighting.
- It supports Multi-View, and Tab interface for Multi-Document.
Pros:
- Spelling check option is provided.
- Easy to use for beginners as well.
- Good community support from GitHub.
Cons:
- Remote file editing is not available for HTTP, SSH, and WebDAV.
- If you want to use Notepad++ on Mac, then you will have to use a third-party tool.
Tool Cost /Plan Details: Free
Official URL: notepad-plus-plus
Findings: Notepad++ is a free code editor. It is used for coding in HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. Its code highlighting functionality helps in writing the code without error.
Download link: https://notepad-plus-plus.org/
Kite
Kite is a Code Editor that automatically completes multiple line codes. This editor supports more than 16 languages. It helps you to code faster with no hassle.
Price: Free
Features:
- It offers documentation for various languages
- This editor provides a function signature as you type.
- You will get a tooltip on mouse hover.
- Provides support in email.
- Uses machine learning models for software development.
Atom
Atom, text, and source code editor are developed by GitHub. It is an open-source tool and the user can use it as an IDE. Atom is an open-source tool. It has very good community support. You can use Atom for basic and advanced programming. It can be used 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
Atom is a useful code editor tool preferred by programmers due to its simple interface compared to the other editors. Atom users can submit packages and them for the software.
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Price: Free
Features:
- Package Manager Integrated for Plugins support
- The feature of smart autocompletion
- Supports Command Palette
- Multiple panes
- This Mac code editor allows cross-platform editing
Download link: https://atom.io/
Visual Studio Code [VS Code]
Visual Studio Code is an open-source code editor software developed by Microsoft. This free text editor offers built-in support for TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js. Its autocompleted with IntelliSense features provides smart completions based on variable types, essential modules, and function definitions.
Platform: Mac, Windows, Linux
Price: Free
Features:
- Easy working with Git and other SCM (Software Configuration management) providers
- Code refactoring & debugging
- This code editor for Mac is easily extensible and customizable
Visual Studio Code
A text editor from Microsoft
Visual Studio Code (or VScode) has become popular among developers – the ones who aren’t put off by the fact that it’s a Microsoft product, anyway. Like Atom and Sublime Text, it offers a variety of packages and free extensions that can be downloaded from its marketplace to add additional features – and the code editor itself can be customized.
Visual Studio Code sports its own terminal and debugger that supports linting and has integration with all manner of source control tools. We reckon it makes one of the best IDEs for Python developers, as it suggests completions and provides on-the-fly popups that show the documentation for classes and methods. Advertisement
Espresso
A text editor that’s more productive than caffeine
Espresso is a gorgeous Mac-only code editor that’s powerful and smooth, like the caffeinated beverage it’s named after. This text editor has been credited with helping its users edit CSS in less time, and that’s partly down to its editing interface.
Built for real-time editing, it’s split into three columns comprising your files, code editor, and navigator, which lets you see the various sections of code you’re working on. And anything that’s edited in the window is reflected in the browser – you can drag-and-drop content into Espresso’s interface to see it update in the back end in real-time.
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is the best coding editor for beginners. Especially it is best for HTML and PHP. Apart from that, it supports many other programming languages as well.
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.
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. Vim is a good text editor, however, it has a steep learning curve.
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
Official URL: Vim
Bluefish
Bluefish is a free text editor. It can be used on many operating systems like Windows, Linux, Mac OS, and Solaris. This easy-to-use system can be used for programming and websites developments. Bluefish supports many markup languages and it is well known for its high speed.
Bluefish can be used for:
| HTML | JavaScript | Java | ColdFusion | JSP |
| XHTML | C++ | Google Go | Perl | Python |
| CSS | C | Vala | SQL | Ruby |
| XML | PHP | Ada | D | Shell |
Features:
- Syntax highlighting.
- Auto-completion & Code Folding.
- Code Navigation.
- Bookmarks.
- Bluefish is an extensible system.
Pros:
- It supports multiple encoding.
- It has Unicode character browser.
Cons:
- Sometimes the system gets slow.
Tool Cost/Plan Details: Free
Official URL: Bluefish
TextMate
TextMate promises to bring Apple’s approach to operating systems into a text editor. TextMate is a simple yet feature-rich code editor for Mac. Easy clipboard management, sophisticated find and replace, autocompletion, foldable code blocks, are some of the powerful features of TextMate.
TextMate is available for $60. It is also available as a free download.
Conclusion
Trying to find a code editor may seem like a daunting task. There are hundreds of editors out there and each offers unique benefits depending on your intended use case. This article will help you weed through the options and choose the best code editor for Mac so you can build even better projects.
Concentrate on the task at hand and forget about everything else while you’re at the computer. However, to avoid making mistakes you need to use an efficient code editor for Mac. That’s exactly what coding is, it takes your full attention because even a minor mistake can cause you to lose your focus and make the development process take longer than needed.