Last time I checked, the year was 2005 and we’re almost about to hit 2006. Is it me or do the majority of text editors for Microsoft Windows look like they pre-date the year 2000?
I spend the majority of my time in a text editor whilst working on MyBB, SurfiOnline and various other projects and because of the amount of time that I do spend using these text editors, I’d like one that looks good as well as provides all of the functionality I need.
Today I’d had it, and went looking for a replacement for EditPlus. Don’t get me wrong – EditPlus is a great application; it just doesn’t look like it was created this century. I looked and looked everywhere and couldn’t find one which suited me best.
The features I want in a text editor include:
- Syntax Highlighting (and it must be fast and efficient for large files, must also support PHP, CSS, HTML)
- Ability to customise the GUI (toolbars, task panes and window panels)
- File browser task pane (showing contents of current directory – you know)
- Template support (I use templates a lot, especially for MyBB files)
- Line numbers
- A status bar which shows information I regard as important (Caps lock, Num lock, and Insert status as well as file size and file format)
- MDI (Multiple Document Interface) with tabs for switching between documents
- Built in browser testing (Heck, I’ll even go as low as saying I don’t care if it is IE based)
- A recent and decent looking GUI which isn’t a usability nightmare
- Regular expression search and replace
Features which I would like to see, but could be optional:
- Automatic code completion (and context sensitive ‘as you type’ help)
- Built in script debugger
- Built in spell checker (come on, it makes things a lot easier!)
- Built in subversion support (I don’t like my chances)
Of course, I could go on for a while on what I need and what I’d like to see, however the reality of it is that nothing seems to exist that fits what I need it for.
I managed to find GridinSoft Notepad, which looks good, however lacks functionality for build in browser testing and doesn’t even have a file browser task pane. The GUI is nice, but minimal which is good and it even supports live document searching.
I also decided I’d try PHP Designer 2005 (freeware) which, after closing most of the task panes and removing most of the toolbars came close to exactly what I was after and the interface looks like it was created this year (<required buzzword:web 2.0> style baby!). However, as you can expect, there were problems. PHP Designer 2005 seems a little bit slow for me, especially when opening documents. It also lacks a decent status bar and spell checker.
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| GridinSoft Notepad Screenshot | PHP Designer 2005 Screenshot |
If you’ve looked at the screenshots for both PHP Designer 2005 and GridinSoft Notepad, you’ve probably noticed something common between them: Office 2003 style icons and toolbars. Why? They look damn good, and a lot better than those old pre-2000 16 colour icons.
And before you say “What about Zend Studio?” I have one word for you: Java.
Of course, I didn’t continue looking much further because I knew I wasn’t going to find the sort of results I wanted. I’ve settled in with my very much trimmed down version of PHP Designer for the time being and we’ll see how that goes, but an alternative would be good.
Know of any or got a complaint about a text editor yourself? Leave a comment.
Comments
Michele (November 26th, 2005, 6:40 pm)
Another reason for switching to Mac! That way you’d get plenty o’ beautiful editors…
For example, you’d get my favorite: Textmate.
Talking about Windows, I haven’t coded on it in a long time, but I remember using PHPEdit. It was nice, but I guess now it might look a bit Web 1.0…
Chris Boulton (November 26th, 2005, 7:53 pm)
Michele, exactly why I should. I was playing with an installation of Textmate in OSX and absolutely loved it - and that is sort of where the inspiration for this post came from.
PHPEdit is too “web 1.0″ style :P. I updated my post too to make sure everyone knows the web 2.0 comment was sarcastic
Michael (November 26th, 2005, 8:18 pm)
I discovered TextMate earlier today which caused me to do exactly the same thing you did. For now I’ve settled for Notepad but I really wish I had a Mac.
Guido (November 27th, 2005, 2:31 am)
Doesn’t have all of the features you want, but I’ve been using Notepad2 and it’s fast, nice, with many features, and free:
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
Michael (November 27th, 2005, 3:12 pm)
Hmm, looks like your blog ate the plus signs in my comment. I meant to say Notepad or if it eats them again Notepad plus plus.
John Anderton (November 29th, 2005, 4:48 am)
I was gonna post about notepad2 (cause thats what i use) but i see Guido has beaten me to it.
Imo, you should atleast give it a try
It is quite good imo 
http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
What i have done with it is that i put the file notepad2.exe in the system folder with the original notepad and then i changed the link in my start menu so when i click on it, notepad opens up. It is on the top of my most used applications in xp so its quite easy.
dt’s seemingly found a way to successfully replace windows’ original notepad with notepad2 using some batch file, but it tends to screw up things so i like my method
Trust me (guido and well …. dt too cause he uses it) just give it a try. It may not have everything you want as Guido said, but it is really good
HomeDawg (November 29th, 2005, 7:23 am)
Well, if your on Windows, I would use PHPEdit, its by far the best program for php development on Windows. For Linux, I’d suguest Bluefish, which by far is the greatest program known to developers. http://bluefish.openoffice.nl/index.html
Chris Boulton (November 30th, 2005, 12:37 am)
Guido/JA: I took a look at Notepad2 after you guys mentioned it. It looks nice, apart from the fact it isn’t an MDI - which is something I would really need because of the number of files I usually have open at one time.
HomeDawg, I took a look at PHPEdit a while ago and one of the major draw backs to me is that it is only a 30 day trial - and I don’t know if it’d suit me enough to justify purchasing a license for it. I’m downloading it now to check it out. I had a look at their screenshots too after you mentioned it, and it seems when I first looked [when Michele commented], that the toolbar icons in the screenshot were “1998″. They look more recent now
HomeDawg (December 2nd, 2005, 1:51 pm)
Chris, You do NOT have to purchace PHP-Edit, first aquire a 30 day trial license. Then from there login to your account and request a personal license. That would be a free unlimited use license as long as your not using it for comercial purposes.
dt (December 5th, 2005, 8:30 am)
For all my php work i use Vim , it has word compleation (ctrl n) , auto code indent and alot of other usefull things (alot i can never remember the command to lol…like that cool feature to view all changes since last save *wishes he could remember the command). if you get the beta Vim 7 it also includes a spellchecker.
http://www.vim.org/