Hello, everyone. I’m new to Sublime Text and I want to share my first impressions compared with other editors, that might help people to pick their personal perfect editor. But let me start about myself:
I’m a young, experienced programmer who likes coding in C++. Sometimes I also do some web development using HTML, CSS, PHP and MySQL, recently also trying client-based realtime applications intensively using JavaScript. What do I need for my development environment? For the code editor, there’s primarily:
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Speed: One of the most important things for me is the startup speed as well as the overall running speed.
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Customization: I love if I can customize quite anything in the programs, in behavior and in look&feel.
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Indentation: I don’t need much intelligence here, but at least taking the indentation from the previous line when inserting a line-break is a must for me. (yeah, gedit does not have it)
I was used working on Windows, but today I am mostly working on Linux. As I am - more or less - both operating systems, the editor must be at least available for these two platforms.
When I started programming (in C++), the first real code editor, I encountered was Dev-C++ (Windows). Together with Code::Blocks, which I used later (and I think, those two are quite similar), these were quite good for me that time: it was easy to develop C++ applications. Later, after figuring out the use of gcc on the (Windows) command line and makefiles, I’d like to have more control of the build system. So, I moved away from Dev-C++/Code::Blocks and switch to Programmer’s Notepad 2. It is much, much faster than the previous editor - propably the fastest one, I know. It’s good, if I need to quickly open a source file, even if PN2 is not yet open. It does not have much of these “annoying” auto-completion and such (yeah, I generally prefer to type most of the stuff myself). In addition, it supports a lot of languages, including HTML, PHP and some other scripting languages.
I also tried PSPad, Notepad++ and CodeLite, which are quite okay, too. But I didn’t use those two very much due to lack of customization and/or (startup) speed.
Bottom line: Programmer’s Notepad 2 was just perfect to me… until, I was trying to code on Linux. Programmer’s Notepad is available for Windows only, as well as PSPad and Notepad++. Gedit is okay for the first steps, but it lacks of auto-indentation. Geany looks quite okay, but there were some issues, too… if I remember well, it does not have the speed, I am used from PN2 and the overall look’n feel didn’t attract me very much.
Later, I encountered Komodo Edit. One very, very positive feature for is that it supports a lot of languages, even JSON, Less and Smarty (PHP template engine). Another nice feature, I found in Komodo Edit, is the split view. Since then, I like using split view sometimes, but I could also live without it. So, I have been using it on Linux quite a while, until a few days ago:
When reading some docs on the Mozilla developer pages, they mentioned a few editor names, where one name piqued my curiosity: Sublime Text. I searched for it, downloaded it and tested it. These are roughly my impressions:
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It’s quite small in size
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It starts quite quickly
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It’s quite interesting to configure everything in text files - I like that somehow.
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Hm, I generally prefer a dark-on-light theme, not vice-versa. Trying out most of the pre-installed themes / color schemes, I finally found one I could live with. Soon, I edited that color scheme to roughly match the colors I love from PN2.
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Cool, JSON highlighter is available. Komodo Edit was the only editor before, I knew, supporting JSON.
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Oh, Less is not supported. Well, that’s okay - after a quick search, there’s a package available online
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It supports split view.
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Per filetype and per project settings. I can define my own build system - I think, even shortcuts, indentation options etc. - per project, that’s awesome!
And finally: Ctrl+Shift+P. That’s a very impressive feature, I don’t know from any other editor. If I wanna change the language highlighter of an unsaved file, I just need that keystroke and type 2-3 characters of my desired language - enter! I don’t need to search the language in the enormous list of supported languages.
A few hours later, I also found the brand new Atom. Just testing it, I was thinking: it’s nearly the same as ST, even with its Ctrl+Shift+P feature. I thought, why buying some software for 70 $, if I could have nearly the same for free? I did a quick test, that would decide, which editor I’ll stick to: the startup speed.
Opening a small source file in Atom: waiting approximately 2 seconds, and it’s there. It’s quite too slow for me… but hey, I think it’s still better than Komodo Edit.
Opening the same file in Sublime Text: waiting not even half a second, and it’s there! Although ST opens the recent files from the previous session, it’s that much faster! It is propably even as fast as PN2, and so my decision was made: I will continue with Sublime Text. I am even considering buying a license soon.
You see, I’ve tried a few editors on both Windows and Linux. Most, possibly all of them, are quite good, and it’s just a matter of personal needs which one is the choice for you.
What is your experience? What editors did you use before you found Sublime Text? Do you use other editors for a few tasks, too?
If I had to make my personal top-gui-editors list for coding, it would look like this right now (20th Nov, 2014):
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Programmer’s Notepad 2 (Windows only); Sublime Text 3
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CodeLite; PSPad (Windows only); Notepad++ (Windows only)
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Atom; Komodo Edit
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Code::Blocks (suitable for C/C++ projects only, I guess); Gedit
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Geany