If you’re looking for a powerful text editor for Linux to kickstart programming in the year 2019, you’re at the right place. While the debate of the best programming editors for Linux won’t end anytime soon, there are many editors that bring an impressive set of features and offer great user experience to developers. While Vim, Emacs, and Nano are older and dependable players in the game, Atom, Brackets, and Sublime Text are relatively newer text editors. The 11 Best Code Editors for 2019 1. Atom, a project started by Github, has established itself as one. Sublime Text. Sublime Text is pretty close to the industry standard for text editors. Notepad is an extremely popular text editor. Bluefish is more of an. Jan 02, 2019 If you like to work in an IDE where everything you need is wrapped up into one package, BBEdit may be what you’re looking for. And if you are coming from a simpler editor, BBEdit may be one of the best code editors to ease you into more complexity without overwhelming you with more features than you will likely ever use. Without further delay, let’s start our list of the most impressive, feature-rich, and useful source code editors for Linux: 11 Best Text Editors For Linux | 2019 Edition1. Sublime TextIn our own poll at Fossbytes Facebook page, Sublime Text, followed by Atom and Vim, turned out to be the favorite code editor. This feature-packed text editor is built for “code, markup and prose.” It natively supports tons of programming language and markup languages. Using plugins, that are maintained under free software licenses, one can extend its functionality. “Goto Anything” is a popular feature of the Sublime Text that lets you quickly navigate to files, lines, or symbols. The other main features of Sublime Text are command palette, Python-based plugin API, simultaneous editing, project-specific preferences, etc. The interested users can find download links and further details about Sublime text on its website. Sublime Text Snap installation command:2. AtomAtom is a free and open source text editor that’s developed by GitHub. Based on Electron (CoffeeScript, JS, Less, HTML), it’s a desktop application that’s built using web technologies. Often being called the text editor of 21st century, it’s a modern text editor that’s hackable to the core. The major features of Atom are cross-platform editing, built-in package manager, file system browser, multiple pane support, find and replace function, and smart autocompletion. You can select from 1000s of open source packages and add new features to Atom. It’s also customizable to suit your needs and style. The latest release of Atom is version 1.35.1. You can find the download links and more information on Atom here. Atom Snap installation command:3. VimVim, or Vi IMproved, is an advanced text editor that aims to deliver a more powerful performance and extend the capabilities of de-facto Unix editor ‘Vi.’ It’s a highly configurable text editor that’s built to serve the needs of a developer. That’s why it’s often called a ‘programmer’s editor.’ It’s designed to be used both as a command line interface and as a standalone application in a GUI. While beginners complain that it’s tough to use, they also learn that it’s one of the most powerful text editors around. Its main highlights are automatic commands, digraph input, split screen, session screen, tab expansion, syntax coloring, and tag system. Vim is written in C and Vim script. Vim 8.1 is the latest stable version of this popular text editor for Linux. You can find more information and the download on Vim’s website. Vim installation command:4. GeditGedit comes loaded as the default text editor of the GNOME desktop environment. This general purpose text editor aims at simplicity and ease of use. Following the GNOME project philosophy, Gedit comes with a clean and straightforward GUI. Written in the C programming language, Gedit witnessed its first public release in 2000. This open source and free software feature full support for the internationalized text. In Gedit, you get configurable syntax highlighting for various programming languages like C++, C, HTML, Java, XML, Python, Perl, and others. The latest version of Gedit arrives with GNOME 3.32. You can find the download links and further information about Gedit here. Gedit installation command:5. GNU EmacsThere’s a good chance that Emacs will be one of your favorite Linux text editors. It has been around for a long time. GNU Emacs, created by GNU Project founder Richard Stallman, is its most popular version that’s used by developers and Linux enthusiasts all across the world. Written in Lisp and C programming language, this free software is extensible using a Turing complete programming language. The users of GNU Emacs also enjoy extensive documentation and tutorial support. There’s also availability of extensions like debugger interface, mail, and news. The latest release of this free/libre text editor is GNU Emacs 26.1. For more information, you can visit this link. Emacs installation command:6. Visual Studio Code![]() Just like the best Linux distributions for programmers, there are various options when it comes to Linux editors that one can use to get their daily jobs done. Despite being created by Microsoft, Visual Studio Code is completely open source and its source code can be accessed on GitHub. Featuring a modern look, VS Code delivers a powerful performance despite being lightweight. There’s a vast library of extensions that enable support for more languages, commands, debuggers, etc. This cross-platform tool (Linux, macOS, and Windows.) comes with out-of-the-box support for TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js. The latest version of VS Code for Linux programmers is 1.32. You can get more info on the same and download links by visiting this link. VS Code installation command:7. nanonano is a user-friendly text editor that’s widely used on Unix-like operating systems. nano, first released in June, 2000, emulates the Pico text editor and comes loaded with additional functionality. It runs in a familiar command line interface. If you’re habitual of spending days and nights playing with configuration files in Terminal, nano will fulfill your needs. Its major highlights include autoconf support, case sensitive search function, auto indentation, interactive search and replacement, tab completion, soft text wrapping, etc. It’s written in C programming language. The latest release of this text editor is GNU nano 4.0. For more information, feel free to visit nano’s website. nano installation command:8. KWriteKWrite, whose first public release was in 2000, is a lightweight text editor developed by KDE. It’s based on the KATE text editor and the KDE KParts technology. The major features of this popular text editor include word completion, auto-indentation, syntax, highlighting according to file type, Vi input mode, and support for plugins. Other exciting features of KWrite are extensibility, encoding support, remote file editing, etc. It’s written in C++. Find more information about this simple to use and highly pluggable text editor here. KWrite installation command:9. Brackets![]() Brackets is a popular text editor that was launched by Adobe back in 2014. This free text editor comes with Live Preview, Inline Editing, focused visual tools Preprocessor support, and other exciting features. Created from the ground up, it’s developed for web designers and front-end developers. Despite being lightweight, this open source text editor comes loaded with all qualities of a modern text editor. It’s written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The latest release of this great text editor is Brackets 1.13. Find the download link and further details here. Brackets Snap installation command:10. JEDJED is a popular Linux text editor that uses S-Lang library. This cross-platform tool is available for a variety of other platforms as well, including Unix, VMS, OS/2, BeOS, Windows, OpenVMS, etc. In case you’re running DOS, you can run JED’s older versions. The major plus point of using JED Linux editor is its lightweight nature that makes sure that you can use it with ease on a hardware with limited resources. The popular features of JED editor are color syntax highlighting, code folding, emulation of editors like Emacs, different programming modes, editing TeX files, rectangular cut/paste, etc. JED 0.99-19 is the latest version available for download and it can be downloaded by visiting this link. JED installation command:11. GeanyGeany is a great text editor that integrates the GTK+ toolkit to deliver an excellent development environment. If you’re looking for a text editor that feels more like an IDE, Geany could be a great choice. This lightweight IDE supports all the main programming languages and has only a few dependencies from other packages. The notable features of Geany are pluggable interface, syntax highlighting, line numbering, etc. It comes with a clean interface and plenty of customizable options. It’s written in C and C++. The latest version of Geany text editor for Linux that’s available for download is Geany 1.34.1. Find more details and download link here. Geany installation command:12. NotepadqqFor long, the users of Notepad++ on Windows have desired to use the same in the form of an Ubuntu text editor or some other Linux distro. However, the software isn’t available on the open source platform. Notepadqq is a worthy open source altnerative that’s available on Linux. It’s worth noting that both projects don’t share any code, however, Notepadqq is surely inspired by Notepad++. As a result, the Windows programmers who make a switch to Linux can get their hands on Notepadqq and get the best features of the popular software on all the platforms. It’s now even available as a Snap for easy installation on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions supporting snap technology. The Notepadqq 7.5.6 is the latest version of the software and you can download from here. How to install Notepadqqq using Snap?Did you find this list of the best text editors for Linux and programming helpful? Don’t forget to tell us your choices and feedback.
Whether you’re a developer or a writer, a good text editor is a must-have on any computer, in any operating system. The humble text editor is great for managing code, writing down quick notes, or just as a distraction-free writing tool. This week, we’re looking at five of the best, based on your nominations. Earlier this week we asked you for your favorite text editors, and while you suggested far more than we can highlight here, there were a few that earned more nominations than the others. Here are the tools you liked the best: Advertisement Sublime TextCross-platform and feature packed, Sublime Text was a crowd favorite in the call for contenders thread, partially because of its amazing feature-set. Plug-ins and add-ons are available for specific programming languages and uses in Sublime Text, the app features extremely powerful search and go-to features, tons of keyboard commands to help you never have to take your hands off the keyboard while you use it, a distraction-free mode that lets you focus right on your work—whatever that work may happen to be, and much much more. Sublime Text has a tabbed interface so you can have multiple documents open at the same time, and a 10,000ft view on the right so you can see where in your document you are at any time. You can select multiple rows to make simultaneous changes, customize shortcuts to suit your own needs, and even chain shortcuts together to perform complex—but fast—operations. It’s remarkably powerful. Advertisement Sublime Text is available for Windows, OS X, and Linux. It’s distributed as evaluation software (meaning it’s free to try, but there’s no time limit on how long you can use it for free) and a full license will cost you $70. A full license is per user, so you can use it on as many computers as you like once you have one. In the call for contenders thread, those of you who nominated Sublime praised its impressive feature-set, developer-friendly plug-ins and API, side-by-side file comparisons, and much more. Read all about it in the nomination thread here and here. Notepad++Advertisement Notepad++ has been around for a long time, and many users have only ever used Notepad++ when they’re ready to upgrade from Notepad or Wordpad. It’s stil under development though, and combines the simple interface of Notepad or Wordpad with advanced features that will make writers and developers happy. Some of them include a customizable interface that you can make as minimal or toolbar-rich as you choose, a document map so you can see where you are in your work at any time, a tabbed interface so you can work in multiple documents, auto-completion and text shortening, macro recording so you can customize shortcuts, and more. You also get customizable syntax highlighting, text folding and collapsable parts of the document (to make things easier to read,) and options you can use to launch the app under certain parameters, just to make your work easier. Notepad++ is free (free as in free speech and free beer) and available for Windows only. You can grab it as an installable app, or a portable app to run from a flash drive or cloud storage service like Dropbox. If you’re not sure exactly what you’re looking for in a text editor, it’s a good place to start, especially because it’s free. You can donate to the project though, and if you enjoy it, you should. The code is available too, so if you’d rather contribute, you can do that as well. Those of you who nominated it praised its simplicity, wealth of plug-ins for just about every type of user, and of course, its price tag. Read all about it in the nomination thread here. Vim (and Its Iterations)Advertisement Oh boy, Vim. Designed to bring the simplicity of Vi to every platform and person who needed a configurable but not-too-heavy text editor, Vim is one banner of the Holy Text Editor Grail Wars to march under. It’s not without good reason—Vim is cross-platform, free, and while it’s aimed squarely at programmers who want an interface they can tweak to their liking and really get some work done in, you don’t have to be a programmer to get the most use out of it. Instead, you just have to take the time to configure it so it works the way you prefer. It won’t hold your hand (although its extensive help is useful for beginners), but once you remember its keyboard shortcuts and commands, download tons of user scripts to apply to it to streamline your work, and learn your way around, it quickly becomes an essential tool. It supports dozens of languages, keeps a history of your actions so you can easily repeat or undo them, supports macro recording, automatically recognizes file types, and lives—once installed—at your command line. Vim—and most of its iterations, which include editors that add a GUI to the app so you can launch it without resorting to the command line—are free (GPL licensed). It’s available for any operating system with a command line of just about any type, and it’s charityware, meaning instead of paying for the app, the team behind it suggests you donate to children in Uganda who could use the support via the ICCF. Those of you who praised Vim noted that it takes some commitment to learn, but once you’re familiar with it, the sky’s the limit. Read more in the nomination thread here. AtomAdvertisement Calling itself a text editor “for the 21st century,” Atom earned a lot of praise in the nominations round for being a text editor designed for the needs of today’s developers. It’s built by the team at GitHub, and incorporates some of the lessons the team there learned by managing so much code on a regular basis. It’s flexible, customizable, themeable, and even though it’s relatively new, it already has a large following and tons of plugins, thanks to its open API. It operates like a native application, and even the application package is customizable so you only get the modules you need. It packs a tabbed interface, multi-paned layout, easy file browser, and easy learning curve so you can get up and running with it quickly. There’s also solid documentation to help you get started if you need it. Only downside though: Atom is currently in private beta, and you’ll have to sign up for an invite and cross your fingers if you want to give it a try. Atom is currently OS X only (10.8+), although Windows and Linux versions are on the roadmap. It’s also free to use while it’s in beta, but when it’s finished and released, the team behind it says it’ll be “competitively priced.” Those of you who nominated it praised its customizability and available plugins, and pointed to the tool’s potential to become one of the best and most powerful text editors we’ve seen in many many years. You can read more about it in the nominations thread here. Update 07/2015: Atom has released its first stable, 1.0 version, along with fully supported versions for Windows and Linux! You can check out the details here. Advertisement Emacs (and Its Iterations)Advertisement If you’ve used an operating system with a command line interface, you’ve had Emacs available to you. It’s been around for decades (since Richard Stallman and Guy Steele wrote it in 1976), and its the other major text editor to stand behind in the Holy Text Editor Grail Wars. It’s not the easiest tool, but it’s definitely one of the most powerful. It has a steep learning curve, but it’s always there, ready for use. It’s had a long and storied history, but the version that most people wind up using is GNU Emacs, linked above. It’s richly featured, too—Emacs can handle almost any type of text that you throw at it, handle simple documents or complex code, or be customized with startup scripts that add features or tweak the interface and shortcuts to match your project or preference. Similarly, Emacs supports macro recording, tons of shortcuts (that you’ll have to learn to get really familiar with it), and has a ton of modules created by third parties to leverage the app for completely non-programming purposes, like project planning, calendaring, news reading, and word processing. When we say it’s powerful, we’re not kidding. In large part, its power comes from the fact that anyone can play with it and mold it into something new and useful for everyone. Emacs is completely cross platform, with versions and derivatives available for Windows, OS X, Linux, and just about every other operating system on the planet. It’s free, as in both free speech and free beer, and comes with detailed help, tutorials, and guides to help you get started using it if you’re new to using Emacs. Those of you who praised it in the call for contenders thread highlighted its flexibility and power, complete customizability, and the fact that you can play Tetris in it, which is admittedly a nice bonus. You can read all about it in its nominations thread here. Now that you’ve seen the top five, it’s time to put them to an all-out vote to determine the Lifehacker community favorite. Advertisement Honorable mentions this week go out to TextWrangler (OS X) and UltraEdit (Windows/OS X/Linux). TextWrangler, as BBEdit’s lighter brother, works equally well as a writing tool as it does a development tool, although it’s designed to be the latter. It’s a great general-purpose text editor with an auto-saving cache that keeps all of your data and documents intact even if you don’t save them to disk between launching the application and closing it. UltraEdit on the other hand, is another crowd-favorite and sports a customizable layout, built-in FTP, find and replace that supports regular expressions, syntax highlighting, and more. Plus, it’s cross-platform. They’re both great options that just missed the top five if you want something more than the top five offers. We really can’t say how many amazing nominees we got in the call for contenders thread this week. If you’re wondering where your favorite editor is, odds are it was nominated back in that thread, so make sure to go check it out. Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don’t just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below. Advertisement The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn’t get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it’s a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at [email protected]! Title photo by Darrell Nash.
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