Favourite Code/Text Editor

phiw13 · 2024-03-13 00:09:06

Bloke wrote #336871:

CMD-backtick works on this version of macOS I have, thank you. At least, it does if the apps occupy the same virtual desktop, but it won’t jump between desktops. I can live with that.

Glad I could help. If you are interested, Apple list of keyboard shortcuts: support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201236 for en-gb keyboards. And don’t forget, pressing the ⌥ (option) key when opening a menu often reveals additional options in standard Mac applications.

–^–

Visual Studio: I don’t remember ever going further than looking at the website before downloading. That was… enough. Atom lasted about an hour before it went down into the Trash folder as a torture instrument.

There, a compliment for Nova: at least I gave it multiple tries. Still don’t find anything really attractive in it that would convince me to think about using it.

–^–

Any recomendation or suggestion for Linux or Windows text & code editors ?

Algaris · 2024-03-13 09:05:37

I’m really enjoying reading through this thread. Thank you everyone for posting. I’m loving all the tips and tricks, please keep them coming and the discussion flowing 🙂

I found a Souped-up Nova extension that was inspired by Tab List which has a number of improvements and new features. Tabs Sidebar

jakob wrote #336868:

This is all getting a bit Nova specific…

I don’t mind personally but if anyone want’s to post workflows, tips, or tricks for their favourite editor please go ahead. This thread doesn’t have to be just about Nova 😉

Algaris · 2024-03-13 09:08:29

Bloke wrote #336873:

I think Atom lasted about a week. I wanted to like it, but… didn’t.

I stuck with Atom for quite some time and really wanted to like it too but it just didn’t stick, I’m not quite sure why. Maybe I’m too much of a Mac purist in how I want my apps to look, feel and function.

Algaris · 2024-03-13 09:14:25

phiw13 wrote #336874:

Any recommendation or suggestion for Linux or Windows text & code editors ?

I’ve always found AlternativeTo a good place to look for software. I’ve found some amazing applications through their site.

gaekwad · 2024-03-13 16:18:37

+1 for Nova. Before that it was Atom, and before that it was Coda.

Algaris · 2024-03-13 16:31:02

Nova seems quite popular here.

gaekwad wrote #336881:

+1 for Nova. Before that it was Atom, and before that it was Coda.

How come you moved from Coda to Atom? How did you find Atom, what things did you like and dislike? I’m genuinely curious.

Last edited by Algaris (2024-03-14 08:44:32)

phiw13 · 2024-03-14 01:29:22

@Algaris Since you asked about workflows, tips etc

Working with EPUB files. BBEdit can open the .epub bundle directly, it opens as what could be a “project” in Nova lingo. From there I can perform all text (editing) operations I need on individual (.xhtml) files or in batches, or editing and fine-tuning the markup, and so on. This I cannot do it with Nova.

Although note, Calibre is much better for strictly “epub” operations, such as generating and managing the table of contents and meta-data, verifying the overall integrity of the book, …

Similarly, editing a file inside a .zip bundle. In both cases, .zip and .epub, without opening/unzipping the package in the Finder.

This week I also spend some time updating a “style” (theme) for the Vienna-RSS feed reader. This Nova could do (half-surprised, as to the Finder, a Vienna-RSS style just looks like a bundle).

Jakob noting about search (grep): I see now, it is basically the standard OS provided search UI, similar (same ?) to what TextEdit has (TextEdit can do some GREP in the search bar although I never tried it). Nova probably has some goodies attached to it, not clear.

Algaris wrote #336883:

Nova seems quite popular here.

I am sitting there all alone in my little corner with BBEdit… very comfortable! (BBEdit in use for 20y +)

I am a little surprise though…

Bloke · 2024-03-14 08:26:27

I’ve always skipped over BBEdit because sixty dollars.

The freebie version doesn’t support projects. Nor does it have git integration, which I find insanely helpful for doing diffs and rolling back individual file changes when I change my mind before making a commit.

The HTML editor/auto completer might be handy but I could probably live without that pro feature.

Can’t see if it supports any user extensions/plugins from a cursory glance. Also, I’d be limited to 14.6.9 on Catalina at the mo. And, sixty dollars.

Might give the trial a whirl though. Just to see if it offers anything better than Sublime.

Algaris · 2024-03-14 08:43:25

phiw13 wrote #336886:

Working with EPUB files. BBEdit can open the .epub bundle directly, it opens as what could be a “project” in Nova lingo. From there I can perform all text (editing) operations I need on individual (.xhtml) files or in batches, or editing and fine-tuning the markup, and so on. This I cannot do it with Nova.

Now that is interesting. The ability to open an .epub bundle could be incredibly useful.

phiw13 wrote #336886:

Although note, Calibre is much better for strictly “epub” operations, such as generating and managing the table of contents and meta-data, verifying the overall integrity of the book, …

I like the idea of Calibre and keep coming back to it to manage my ebook collection, but it’s interface is terrible.

phiw13 wrote #336886:

This week I also spend some time updating a “style” (theme) for the Vienna-RSS feed reader. This Nova could do (half-surprised, as to the Finder, a Vienna-RSS style just looks like a bundle).

Vienna-RSS. Now that’s a blast from the past. It was one of my first RSS readers. It’s good to know Vienna’s still around.

phiw13 wrote #336886:

I am sitting there all alone in my little corner with BBEdit… very comfortable! (BBEdit in use for 20y +)

I’ve come across BBEdit but I’ve never really given it a good shake. I think John Gruber might be a BBEdit user.

phiw13 · 2024-03-14 08:45:10

if you are going to evaluate prices:

BBEdit: 59.99USD until next major version (without paying for major upgrade, you still can use the free version and get all updates) – typically 2.2 years between major releases.
Nova: 99USD (1st year) + 49USD (2nd year); if you don’t pay further, you do not get any updates.

And yes, git & svn integration is paid version only – that is the only paid feature I would eventually miss (there are some possible work arounds with applescript, if memory servers).

phiw13 · 2024-03-14 08:55:57

Algaris wrote #336892:

I like the idea of Calibre and keep coming back to it to manage my ebook collection, but it’s interface is terrible.

Terrible is an nice understatement here… :-)
But it is the most useable editor to generate and manage .epub files (aka book creation/editing). I don’t use it for managing a collection of EPUB books. The Finder does a good job.

gaekwad · 2024-03-14 09:19:00

phiw13 wrote #336874:

Any recomendation or suggestion for Linux or Windows text & code editors ?

VS Code & VSCodium.

gaekwad · 2024-03-14 09:44:52

Algaris wrote #336883:

How come you moved from Coda to Atom? How did you find Atom, what things did you like and dislike?

I used Coda exclusively, having been a user since the early v1 releases. I used it in tandem with Tower for Gil stuff, and it worked just fine on my 2012-era fleet of cheap Macs running Mojave. I didn’t really notice any Electron overhead with Atom, and for my purposes it worked just fine.

I was stuck on those same 2012 Macs until last year when I got sick of running an old-old macOS that was limiting what I could work on. I had to take a step back and reassess what I was doing, the tools I was using, and what it was costing me in time, overhead, expenses etc.

I didn’t want to pay for Tower as a subscription, honestly. I’m not zealously against subscriptions on software since I understand the business models behind it, but it just wasn’t good enough for me to justify the price.

Panic had retired Coda and were teasing Nova, which I tried and got on OK with…but I was limited to its feature set on my aging Mojave fleet. Git integration was basic, and it felt a bit weird to pay a subscription to a product that I wouldn’t see the benefits of since my operating system wouldn’t run the newest Nova.

The biggest cognitive change was my email. I use Fastmail for my work email and used to spend hours in Mail.app on my Mac…checking, replying, writing etc. Then Fastmail decided Mojave Mail.app was insecure and had some ass-backwards additional password verification to protect my ‘main’ password. It didn’t work, and over a week or two I ended up rewiring my brain from a 15+ year Mail.app habit to using their web app. Which is good, actually. And I spent way less time in email. Which freed up time for me to do other things. Which gave me clarity on where my time was being spent.

Last year I got a Mac mini M2 from the Apple refurb store. Absolute game changer in terms of performance, running costs, and it let me use new Nova at full tilt. Nova is good enough for me in terms of UI / UX, Git integration, and is my only annual subscription as far as Mac software is concerned.

I know there are untold things in it that I’m not using, but it’s more than enough value for money for me to have my editor, Git stuff, and modular projects when I’m spending 3-4 hours a day in it. The initial purchase cost was reduced because I was a Coda user, and the $49 a year extension is a dollar a week.

I don’t have Netflix, or a TV licence, kids, debts, or much in the way of a social life, so my outgoings are manageable. In my head, I split that dollar-a-week cost into me being able to work (and I’m getting way better at charging my time more appropriately, not selling myself short) and learning new things (e.g. my VPS build playbook that has 6,000+ commits as I iterate improvements / refinements) to keep the mental gremlins at bay.

The next purchase I’m looking at is CodeKit, but I’ve not made the jump yet. I suspect it’s due to me being rusty on website building the last year or so. My Mac environment is deliberately as vanilla as possible as far as background stuff is concerned. I don’t use Homebrew, for example. I’d much prefer to keep the OS as stable as possible and build out a Debian VPS to host stuff rather than shit-up my core OS that is my professional livelihood. I see CodeKit as a halfway house, since it has a pretty way to do stuff using some of the CSS frameworks I use.

Sure, I could use the CLI tools to compile source, but it’s clearer for me to use my Mac for ‘work stuff’ and the VPS for ‘nerd stuff’. The learning part encompasses both, but if I wreck a VPS from misadventure, it’s trivial to restore a snapshot or build from scratch with my playbook. If I break my Mac, that takes a lot longer to fix, and there’s no guarantee I’ve done it right.

So yeah, Nova. Good enough for me.

philwareham · 2024-03-14 11:59:01

Panic Nova user here. 👋

Mainly because it is Mac-native and not an Electron app. It also means I can completely avoid the GitHub Mac app, which is an Electron app. Obviously I could use Git on the command line but I am lazy and a Mac user.

I also have BBEdit which I use for basic plain text editing most days.

jakob · 2024-03-14 21:56:12

philwareham wrote #336901:

Panic Nova user here. 👋

jakob wrote #336868:

I am so curious to know whether Phil took this Textpattern nova extension any further. I so hope so!

Hi Phil, did you ever get the autocomplete / syntax plugin working in the end?

Textpattern CMS support forum

#16 2024-03-13 00:09:06

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

Bloke wrote #336871:

#17 2024-03-13 09:05:37

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

jakob wrote #336868:

#18 2024-03-13 09:08:29

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

Bloke wrote #336873:

#19 2024-03-13 09:14:25

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

phiw13 wrote #336874:

#20 2024-03-13 16:18:37

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

#21 2024-03-13 16:31:02

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

gaekwad wrote #336881:

#22 2024-03-14 01:29:22

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

Algaris wrote #336883:

#23 2024-03-14 08:26:27

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

#24 2024-03-14 08:43:25

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

phiw13 wrote #336886:

phiw13 wrote #336886:

phiw13 wrote #336886:

phiw13 wrote #336886:

#25 2024-03-14 08:45:10

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

#26 2024-03-14 08:55:57

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

Algaris wrote #336892:

#27 2024-03-14 09:19:00

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

phiw13 wrote #336874:

#28 2024-03-14 09:44:52

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

Algaris wrote #336883:

#29 2024-03-14 11:59:01

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

#30 2024-03-14 21:56:12

Re: Favourite Code/Text Editor

philwareham wrote #336901:

jakob wrote #336868:

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