Is a Free HTML editor the best kind of HTML editor?
Tuesday June 15, 2004
I often get email asking about what is the best HTML editor to use. But often what most people are really asking is "what's the best free HTML editor."
I struggle with this because while there are a lot of good free software options out there, most of them have issues of one kind or another. And none of them can I recommend as my #1 first choice in any situation. Your best bet is to figure out the best Web editor for what you need, and then decide on price ranges. But if you must go with free, and that is the only criterion, then check out these links:
Comments
You did not include gedit in the list of Linux HTML editors. For a text only HTML editor, I find gedit to be full of useful features and is installed by default on the Gnome desktop. My favorite feature is the tabbed interface, where multiple files can be opened in tabs.
Jennifer,
May I suggest Aptana IDE? (http://www.aptana.com/)
They promote themselves as an AJAX application development program, but I have found it great for even regular web programming. It includes a Dreamweaver-like interface along with code assist on JavaScript, HTML, and CSS; plus, a JavaScript debugger to troubleshoot your code.
I love it and I have it on my Mac, PC and my Linux Laptop. (It works on all 3.) It’s worth checking out.
Taco is awesome for the Mac!
You have some pretty robust freebies out there you can’t rule out: NetBeans or Microsoft Visual Studio Express.
Once you get use to the IDE you can then jump into middle-tier development and migrate from web pages to web applications.
RJ TextEd is well worth taking for a test drive
I couldn’t find ActiveState’s Komodo Edit 4 in your list. It’s fast, good and free.
Hi Nils,
I’ll take a look at it. I have Komodo IDE on my list - it is ranked around 38 overall. But I didn’t know they offered a free version.
Thanks!