Deciding on a text editor to use for coding

• For coding work you need to decide on a plain text editor.
  • Plain text uses a very limited set of characters and no formatting in order to keep file sizes small and to be universally accepted.
  • Do NOT use word processing software such as MS Word or Apple Pages, or similar.
    • Even though MS Word has an option to export as html, the code it generates is so poor and proprietary that Adobe Dreamweaver actually has a command called Clean Up Word HTML!
• If you already have a text editor preference as a result of prior coding work, please use it.
  • I do suggest that whatever you use it provide html/css/js code hints.
• Otherwise, I think that Brackets is good choice because it is:
  • free
  • cross-platform (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  • has a robust set of tools to assist you
• Using Brackets
• You will find it a little complicated at first, but if you read and watch the information about it, you will be happy you decided to use it. It will make your coding and previewing easier.
• It may surprise you to know that the the Brackets application is actually made from HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Warning: do not edit the code that is the application! I mention this because one of the videos demonstrates editing the code that the browser is built with. 
• Here are videos to watch about Brackets.
  • Introducing Brackets
  • Live Development for HTML
  • Brackets Videos on Youtube
  • More videos to watch
  • Brackets user guide (text)
  • JavaScript Debugger for Brackets
  • Tuts+ Introduction to Brackets
• Some other choices, but there are many more:
  • Mac also has a plain text editor, TextEdit.
    • To use it for coding you must set its preferences to use plain text and not rtf formatted text.
      
    • It also provides no assistance with coding.
  • Notepad++ is also only available on Windows and is very popular for coding.
  • Notepad is available only on Windows.
    • It is in the Accessories area of Programs. Or type its name in the start box.
      
    • It is useful occasionally if you need to do a quick edit to a code file.
    • It provides no assistance with closing tags or previewing the pages.
    • You must manually add the .html or other extension when initially saving a code file otherwise the .txt extension will be appended automatically.