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mjkearns · Apr 30, 2005, 01:47 PM

Hello.

Coming from a PC background, I'm looking for something to edit various types of code with on my new Mac mini. I use Eclipse for Java, and then vary between text-editors for other things, but I'd like to get myself a bit more organised if I can.

I've tried Eclipse on the mini, and although it works it's a bit too heavyweight really.

I'm looking for something to handle Java, Python, Objective-C (I'm learning it), (X)HTML, CSS, XML and a few other things.

I think the closest thing to the PC based editors that I've used is probably BBEdit, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something else - I know that lots of people seem to rave over subEthaEdit, but I don't need collaboration features. XCode is probably fine for the Java.Objective-C side of things, and I haven't seen XCode 2 yet.

I don't really want to spend a great deal of money at the moment, as I want to save for a nice PowerMac (already hitting the limits of the mini), so the more budget orientated suggestions, the better.

I will demo everything I hear about - I'm just looking for ideas of editors I may have missed, and thoughts as to why people think certain editors may be a good choice for what I need.

Thanks for any help.

TampaDeveloper · Apr 30, 2005, 02:14 PM

Originally Posted by mjkearns

Hello.

Coming from a PC background, I'm looking for something to edit various types of code with on my new Mac mini. I use Eclipse for Java, and then vary between text-editors for other things, but I'd like to get myself a bit more organised if I can.

I've tried Eclipse on the mini, and although it works it's a bit too heavyweight really.

I'm looking for something to handle Java, Python, Objective-C (I'm learning it), (X)HTML, CSS, XML and a few other things.

I think the closest thing to the PC based editors that I've used is probably BBEdit, but I'm wondering if I'm missing something else - I know that lots of people seem to rave over subEthaEdit, but I don't need collaboration features. XCode is probably fine for the Java.Objective-C side of things, and I haven't seen XCode 2 yet.

I don't really want to spend a great deal of money at the moment, as I want to save for a nice PowerMac (already hitting the limits of the mini), so the more budget orientated suggestions, the better.

I will demo everything I hear about - I'm just looking for ideas of editors I may have missed, and thoughts as to why people think certain editors may be a good choice for what I need.

Thanks for any help.

JEdit is pretty light... its written in Java.

mjkearns · Apr 30, 2005, 02:23 PM

I tend to stay away from Java apps, mainly because I've spent the last 8 years developing in Java and still find any Java desktop apps more 'clunky'. Eclipse is probably the closest thing I've seen to acceptable (I use it daily at work), but that's far too heavyweight (from a performance/memory point of view) than I want for the mini.

I'm not saying Java can't work on the desktop (It's desktop software I write for work), but it's not my choice when at home ;o)

I was David B. · Apr 30, 2005, 04:19 PM

I would also have recommended jedit. It is a great editor and an example for a really well done java application.

I myself use bbedit on my powerbook. It is THE best editor I have ever used. But a couple of weeks after I have bought bbedit 8, TextWrangler came out for free and it shares the killer features of bbedit. For a programmer TextWrangler is a great tool. BBedit is only superior if you do html.

SubEthaeddit - well if you like shared chaos... Feature wise its a new application. Don't compare ist to bbedit. That would be 10 years of developement compared to 2 years.

mjkearns · Apr 30, 2005, 04:23 PM

I do write HTML, and am using TextWrangler at the moment. I'm just hesitant to upgrade to the full BBEdit until I've established it's the best above possibly cheaper options.

entrox · Apr 30, 2005, 06:14 PM

Emacs.

Absolutely nothing can touch it in terms of power and features. It does have a huge learning curve at first, but you'll never go back once it 'clicks'.

leira · May 1, 2005, 02:26 PM

i always liked Vim

ameat · May 2, 2005, 09:23 AM

Textmate is pretty cool, and under ongoing development.

mjkearns · May 2, 2005, 10:08 AM

Thanks for the replies so far. I'm certainly not going down the emacs/vi/edlin route, as I can't get on with any of them (though I can use vi in an emergency).

Textmate looks interesting, and I'll certainly have a play with it. Currently BBEdit is still winning on the usabillity front, and Textwrangler on the 'free' front.

Theodour · May 2, 2005, 10:34 PM

I think jEdit is a great editor.
I like jEdit's folding, and its syntax highlighting is bliss ...
For Python, using the jython runtime is really handy ...
But ...
I still use BBEdit more because:
a) I mostly do html/server scripting
b) I use Services a lot

I wish I could fuse BBEdit and jEdit somehow.