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In Search Of The Best Web Page Editor

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By Bud Kraus
bud@joyofcode.com
Joy Of Code
Creator And Instructor

v5 i14
Originally Published: October 9, 2009

What web page editor do the best web designers in the world use?

My bet is that most use either Notepad, TextEdit or some rather plain old editor that doesn't do much but record what you type.

That's not to say none use Dreamweaver, ExpressionWeb, BBEdit or Text Wrangler. The list of what you can use to make web pages is endless (but it certainly does not include Word).

What are you using? Is there really a best web page editor?

Here's my quick tour of the application's I've used or may never use.

The Plain Text Editors

What's so great about Notepad and Tex/Edit? It's not just that they are free but they are on every Windows and Apple computer you will ever use. All you need is a little knowledge of code - XHTML, CSS and Javascript are good starters = and away you go. The no muss no fuss approach works fine for many but there are some drawbacks.

  • They don't show the code source lines.
  • They're not much for spell checking.
  • You can't use color to highlight your code making it easier to see and find things.
  • Undo and redo tools are poor or non-existent.
  • 5, Notepad is good to go for web page making right out of the box. That's not the case for TextEdit which requires that you change the Preferences so that it won't give you Rich Text Formatted pages.

The Fancier Text Editors

Do you know about BBEdit and Text Wrangler?

Both are Mac-only apps. I'm using BBEdit in trial mode wondering if I will continue to use it after my 30 days. It has some nice features but some major drawbacks and I don't see how it beats Dreamweaver for someone like me. If you're a programmer I can see why you'd love it. I'm just a programmer wannabe.

BBEdit has a lot of built in features much like Dreamweaver but it's harder to see the "design view" while you're making a page.

Text Wrangler is an app that I've yet to try. I know it's like text Edit but more fully featured. It's free and unlike Text Edit you don't have to futz around with the Preferences to get it to make web pages.

The nice thing about all of these is they aren't just for making web pages. If you're writing PHP, Perl, ASP or any other language all of the above will work quite well.

Both of these apps are made by Bare Bones, an apt name for a company if ever there was one.

The Fanciest Editors

Overall, Dreamweaver is still in a class by itself. Adobe has done Macromedia well by continuing it's evolution in the spirit in which it began years ago. The design interface and functionality continues to evolve in a favorable direction of the end user.

Here are just a few new features over DW from CS3:

  • Vertical split screen of code and design views.
  • A Code Navigator which allows designers access to CSS, Javascript and other related files without having to open them.
  • Working in Live View.
  • More and better prompts to aid in creating usable and accessible page content.

Then there is Microsoft. You know they have to get in on the act too.

Front Page is now, thank goodness, history. No one editor is responsible for the miles of bad code and resulting miserable visual design like FP.

In it's place is ExpressionWeb an application I will look at but never install. Clearly it's meant to give DW a run for it's money but my money says it will not succeed.

So what is the best editor? That all depends on you.

Cheap Software

If you are a student or a faculty member(many JG Readers are) you can get software at greatly reduced prices. Two stores I have used are: