Aqua-Alta.nl, Webdesign using webstandards, usability and accessability.

Every webdesigner needs a text-editor to write scripts.
On my Windows machine I used Adobe Dreamweaver to my satisfaction,
When I’ve got my Mac, I installed Parallels and Dreamweaver in this virtual Windows machine.
But somehow it didn’t work anymore.I became more and more reluctant to leave OSX.
I was gradually being contaminated and becoming an Apple-fanboy…

The Search

Before I switched from Windows to Mac I’ve read a lot about Textmate and Coda.
What I found most striking was the enthousiasm when people talked about these apps.
Both being Mac-only code editors they were out of reach for me then.

But when looking for some code editor for the Mac, Textmate came to mind.
Downloaded and installed it.And was utterly surprised…
This was Notepad for Mac.Were all those seasoned developers a bit looney in the head?
After a few tries I left Textmate for another application named Coda.

FTP Client

This was what I was looking for.
As I am used to Dreamweaver, I want an FTP client in the app.
Productivity is about simplicity, and there’s nothing simpler than uploading your file from the same app as in which you edit it.
Panic had built there FTP app Transmit into Coda.

Auto-Completion

With auto-completion I have mixed feelings.
On the one hand I find it a valuable tool when you’re learning a new language and still insecure about the syntax.
It beats looking it up in a book or on the Internet.

On the other hand when you know what your doing it sometimes gets in the way.

Dreamweaver and Coda both offers auto-completion.

Coda has so called books originating from real paper books regarding HTML, CSS, Javascript and PHP.
Coda gives you also the possibility to extend references for other languages by you’re own,as did the guys at Sitepoint.

Syntax colouring

Syntax colouring doesn’t make great websites but improves human readability in your scripts.
Therefore for me it’s a musthave.
And there goes both Dreamweaver and Coda awry.
Since I develop mostly in ExpressionEngine there’s a lot of lines containing EE tags in my scripts.
And in Coda and Dreamweaver ExpressionEngine tags are just on big mash of “string” colours.

Start up speed

One of the reasons for switching from a Windows machine to a Mac was the sluggishness of the machine and its applications.
And the maintenance of the machine to keep it…, well,sluggish.
Dreamweaver on a Mac is a lot faster than its Windows equivalent,but still needs time to start up.It’s just a heavy application.
Coda is a lot faster but still needs a few seconds.
Textmate however is lightning fast.Within one second you’ve access to your files.

“Textmate you say ?”.
Uh, ahum,yes…

Textmate

Yep, it kept on the back of my mind.There must be something in it.Battle hardened developers don’t choose an editor that sucks.
and when I learned about a Bundle for ExpressionEngine, I wiped the dust of the app and fired it up again.
I discovered the Bundles.

Bundles are a sort of plugins for Textmate built by Textmate-users.
In short,they are commands and short keys for a certain language or service.
You type in a word and hit the “tab” key and you are presented with a code block relevant to the word and the syntax mode you’re in.
And when you’re hitting the “esc” key while coding,you’re served with auto-completion.

Syntax colouring is also available in the bundles.

Textmate doesn’t come with an FTP client, but users have come with solutions.
There’s the FTP/SSH Bundle
or the Transmit Bundle which works in combination with Transmit,the FTP client mentioned above.

Conclusion

If you are on a Windows machine you’re destined for Dreamweaver,with Notepad++ as a worthy and free alternative.
The same goes, if you’re on a tight deadline and need a shopping cart this afternoon.
Dreamweaver has a lot of extensions available on their Exchange.

If you however are on a Mac, you might think of using Coda.It,s fast, slick and 100 % Mac experience.
When the majority of your applications are build around CMS‘s
like ExpressionEngine,Joomla or Drupal,
I think you need Textmate.
And when you’re building a CMS yourself,you could build a Bundle for it…

I hope this review helps you in the choice of an editor.
Rest me to bid you Happy Holidays and a very fortunate 2009 for you and your loved ones.

NB.And my weapon of choice ? it’s Textmate, mate.And a bit of Coda on the side.