text editor suggestion?

[John Salerno]

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post. I've tried a
few different editors, and I really like UltraEdit, but it's
Windows-only and I'm working more on Linux nowadays.

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

That's pretty much all I need. It's nice when you can customize a bunch
of other stuff too, but those are the most important.

I've tried vim, but I really don't feel like taking the time to learn
how to use it, given that I just like to casually program (not to
mention that I prefer to use the mouse when navigating a document
sometimes).

I also just started using Scite, and I really like it, except I find its
syntax highlighting to be very inflexible. You aren't able to define
your own groups of words -- you have to use what's given, basically. One
thing I like about UltraEdit is that you simply define as many groups of
keywords as you want and then assign a style to each one. Scite has a
very strange and rigid method of highlighting.

So hopefully some of you might have some suggestions. My requirements
are minimal, but I'm still not happy with the syntax highlighting I'm
seeing in a lot of editors out there.

 

[nemesian]

Have you tried Notepad++? It's a neat text-editor.

 

[Ben Finney]

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

The two big names in text editing, Vim and Emacs, will both meet these
criteria easily. They also have the advantage that you'll find one or
the other, or both, on just about any Unix system intended for use by
a programmer.

I've tried vim, but I really don't feel like taking the time to learn
how to use it, given that I just like to casually program (not to
mention that I prefer to use the mouse when navigating a document
sometimes).

Both Vim and Emacs operate fine with the mouse, if asked to do so.

For Emacs, you simply run it in the context of an windowing
environment and it will use a bitmapped graphical window.

For Vim, you need to run 'gvim' to get the bitmapped window (later
versions may attempt to do this by default, I'm not sure).

There is also an enormous amount of support for both these editors,
for all manner of text editing tasks, available online. It's a good
idea to learn at least one of them very well, rather than learn a
bunch of less-popular editors for specific tasks.

 

[Simon Forman]

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post. I've tried a
few different editors, and I really like UltraEdit, but it's
Windows-only and I'm working more on Linux nowadays.

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

That's pretty much all I need. It's nice when you can customize a bunch
of other stuff too, but those are the most important.

I've tried vim, but I really don't feel like taking the time to learn
how to use it, given that I just like to casually program (not to
mention that I prefer to use the mouse when navigating a document
sometimes).

I also just started using Scite, and I really like it, except I find its
syntax highlighting to be very inflexible. You aren't able to define
your own groups of words -- you have to use what's given, basically. One
thing I like about UltraEdit is that you simply define as many groups of
keywords as you want and then assign a style to each one. Scite has a
very strange and rigid method of highlighting.

So hopefully some of you might have some suggestions. My requirements
are minimal, but I'm still not happy with the syntax highlighting I'm
seeing in a lot of editors out there.

Have you tried IDLE? It ships with python, meets your 5 criteria(*),
can be customized (highlighting colors and command keys and more), and
includes a usable GUI debugger. It's got some warts, but I like it a
lot, it's pretty much all I use for my python coding.

http://www.python.org/idle/

(* It *is* an IDE, but a very lightweight one. )

 

[Paul Rubin]

Have you tried IDLE? It ships with python, meets your 5 criteria(*),
can be customized (highlighting colors and command keys and more), and
includes a usable GUI debugger. It's got some warts, but I like it a
lot, it's pretty much all I use for my python coding.

I use it too, but have never gotten the debugger to work reliably.

 

[David Isaac]

http://www.american.edu/econ/notes/soft.htm#EDITORS

has some relevant discussion and suggestions.

Cheers,

Alan Isaac

 

[Simon Forman]

I use it too, but have never gotten the debugger to work reliably.

I'm curious about what you mean? It doesn't do all I'd wish for, but
I've never had any real problem with it. (It's bicyclerepairman I
haven't been able to get working. lol)

Peace,
~Simon

 

[OriginalBrownster]

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post. I've tried a
few different editors, and I really like UltraEdit, but it's
Windows-only and I'm working more on Linux nowadays.

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

That's pretty much all I need. It's nice when you can customize a bunch
of other stuff too, but those are the most important.

I've tried vim, but I really don't feel like taking the time to learn
how to use it, given that I just like to casually program (not to
mention that I prefer to use the mouse when navigating a document
sometimes).

I also just started using Scite, and I really like it, except I find its
syntax highlighting to be very inflexible. You aren't able to define
your own groups of words -- you have to use what's given, basically. One
thing I like about UltraEdit is that you simply define as many groups of
keywords as you want and then assign a style to each one. Scite has a
very strange and rigid method of highlighting.

So hopefully some of you might have some suggestions. My requirements
are minimal, but I'm still not happy with the syntax highlighting I'm
seeing in a lot of editors out there.

I use Komodo, its a lil hard to find if you're looking to pay nothing,
but its a great editor. it has all those things you're looking for. and
you can customize the syntax languages for ones that aren't already
included in the package...theres a free trial ..just try a google search

 

[BartlebyScrivener]

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post.

You got 65 answers last time

http://tinyurl.com/rsfjq

rd

 

[John Salerno]

You got 65 answers last time

http://tinyurl.com/rsfjq

rd

Hmm, I forgot all about that. Although I think the few editors I tried
recently was a result of that thread! I guess none of the suggestions
worked out for me. Oh well, I'll just keep trying different ones.

 

[John Salerno]

The two big names in text editing, Vim and Emacs, will both meet these
criteria easily. They also have the advantage that you'll find one or
the other, or both, on just about any Unix system intended for use by
a programmer.

There is also an enormous amount of support for both these editors,
for all manner of text editing tasks, available online. It's a good
idea to learn at least one of them very well, rather than learn a
bunch of less-popular editors for specific tasks.

I'd really like to learn vim, but I spent days just trying to figure out
how to get the syntax highlighting and indentation working, where these
settings are and how to edit them, and it still doesn't work for me. It
just feels so insurmountable that I can't even start working with it yet
because I don't know how to tailor the settings.

 

[Ant]

I'd really like to learn vim, but I spent days just trying to figure out
how to get the syntax highlighting and indentation working, where these
settings are and how to edit them, and it still doesn't work for me. It
just feels so insurmountable that I can't even start working with it yet
because I don't know how to tailor the settings.

FWIW I started to use vim 2 years ago, and hated every minute of it.
However, it was installed on every unix/linux box I have known, and so
I gradually learned the most common commands. Recently I have been
using gvim on windows, which comes pre-configured to syntax highlight
etc. It isn't very good at running the current buffer as far as I can
tell though, so I still have a command line open currently.

jEdit is also a very good editor with the same sort of feature set as
vim. Bit slower to load, but much more user freindly and a very
powerful editor core. With a few extra plugins (console and Jython
interpreter for example) it has all of the features you want, including
he ability to write macros in python. (Note vim is also customisable
using python).

 

[Sybren Stuvel]

John Salerno enlightened us with:

I'd really like to learn vim, but I spent days just trying to figure
out how to get the syntax highlighting and indentation working,
where these settings are and how to edit them

Stop being a man and just ask for directions

It just feels so insurmountable that I can't even start working with
it yet because I don't know how to tailor the settings.

"vim ~/.vimrc" is all you need on any system but Windows. There IIRC
you need to edit C:\Program Files\VIM\_vimrc.

If you want some examples, tips, and my configuration, check out
http://www.stuvel.eu/vimhints

Sybren

 

[BartlebyScrivener]

If you demand power and cross-platform compatibility, I think you
already know your choices are Xemacs or Vim 7.0. They are both modal
and therefore difficult to learn, at first, but later you enjoy the
pleasures of interface Zen:

http://tinyurl.com/osys2

rd

 

[Philippe Martin]

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post. I've tried a
few different editors, and I really like UltraEdit, but it's
Windows-only and I'm working more on Linux nowadays.

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

That's pretty much all I need. It's nice when you can customize a bunch
of other stuff too, but those are the most important.

I've tried vim, but I really don't feel like taking the time to learn
how to use it, given that I just like to casually program (not to
mention that I prefer to use the mouse when navigating a document
sometimes).

I also just started using Scite, and I really like it, except I find its
syntax highlighting to be very inflexible. You aren't able to define
your own groups of words -- you have to use what's given, basically. One
thing I like about UltraEdit is that you simply define as many groups of
keywords as you want and then assign a style to each one. Scite has a
very strange and rigid method of highlighting.

So hopefully some of you might have some suggestions. My requirements
are minimal, but I'm still not happy with the syntax highlighting I'm
seeing in a lot of editors out there.

Emacs would be my choice.

Philippe

 

[mystilleef]

http://scribes.sourceforge.net/

Flash Demo: http://scribes.sourceforge.net/snippets.htm

GIF Demo: http://www.minds.may.ie/~dez/images/blog/scribes.html

Scribes is simple, slim, sleek and fast. It has no learning curve and
conveys a no nonsense approach to text editing. You won't need to edit
configuration files in lisp, read manuals or sacrifice your unborn
grand daugther to the geek goddesses. It's also written in Python. Some
people have described it as TextMate for Linux.

Version 0.3 will be released in few days and will feature

- remote editing
- a document browser to show all files opened by the editor
- recent files menu
- more steriods...

 

[milosz]

Did you try gedit?
It has an options, which you need, I think.
Regards.

 

[Thorsten Kampe]

* John Salerno (2006-08-19 02:20 +0100)

Ok, I know it's been asked a million times, but I have a more specific
question so hopefully this won't be just the same old post. I've tried a
few different editors, and I really like UltraEdit, but it's
Windows-only and I'm working more on Linux nowadays.

Here are my criteria:

1. syntax highlighting (highly customizable)
2. auto/smart indenting
3. ability to run script
4. light-weight text editor, not an IDE
5. cross-platform (not really necessary, but nice)

EditPad Pro - runs perfectly under Wine

http://www.editpadpro.com/convenience.html
http://www.editpadpro.com/wine.html

 

[John Salerno]

John Salerno enlightened us with:

Stop being a man and just ask for directions

Oh don't worry, I have no shame. I was asking a ton of questions, yet I
still couldn't figure it out.

"vim ~/.vimrc" is all you need on any system but Windows. There IIRC
you need to edit C:\Program Files\VIM\_vimrc.

But what about customizing syntax coloring? Is this also in the same
file? I've noticed a separate file called python.vim (in Windows, this
file exists in a 'syntax' folder, and also another file of the same name
in an 'indent' folder, so I'm *still* confused about which files are
used for which settings.

 

[John Salerno]

Did you try gedit?
It has an options, which you need, I think.
Regards.

Yes, I tried it and it's alright, but it doesn't support smart
indentation or much customizing of syntax highlighting (i.e. you can
change the color of functions, but you can't define what a 'function'
is, or at least I have no idea where this can be done). It seems like
what most editors do is highlight user-defined functions as they are
defined, so:

def func()

'func' would be highlighted here, but not when you call it elsewhere in
your script. Furthermore, there isn't support for built-in Python
functions and methods.

The thing I liked about UltraEdit is that you can define your own groups
of words and put whatever words you want in there, so my file had a
group called '__builtins__' and it listed all the Python built-in
methods, and those would be highlighted. Most editors I see don't seem
to allow this...they just figure out what a function or method is on
their own somehow.