Web editors versus WYSIWYG toolsLesson 3, Web Design Tools 41Finding and replacing code
Most text editors used for coding also have robust tools for searching and replacing code.
Although this can be helpful on a single page, it is indispensable on larger projects where you
need to make changes on a large number of pages across a site.
Much more!
Advanced text editors are designed to scale, and accommodate advanced users. Developers
and programmers who regularly code in more sophisticated languages such as PHP
(originally an acronym for ‘Personal Home Page’), ASP (Active Server Pages), and Ruby on
Rails (a framework for web applications) often use the advanced features of text editors to
help them build their sites. In many ways, the line between text editors and WYSIWYG
editors is beginning to blur. Some text editors have built-in functionality that allows you to
build local site folders that keep track of site elements such as hyperlinks between documents,
and media such as images and videos. They may also have an internal page preview feature or
some form of FTP client that allows users to publish their pages to the web.
An overview of text editors
The following is a brief list of popular text editors for both Mac OS and Windows computers.
These editors off er capabilities such as automatic code completion, code coloring, and code
checking.
BBedit and TextWrangler (Mac) These text editors are similar and are developed by the
same company. TextWrangler is free and has fewer features than BBedit. http://www.barebones.com
Coda (Mac) is a text editor that also provides site management, browser preview, and built-in
web publishing. http://www.panic.com/coda/
TextMate (Mac) Along with being a text editor, its functionality can be extended by bundles
that extend the capabilities of TextMate; for example, there are bundles that make adding
JavaScript to your web pages much easier. http://macromates.com
E Text Editor (Windows) E Text Editor is a Windows-based text editor that supports many of
the features of TextMate such as bundles and snippets. http://www.e-texteditor.com
Microsoft Visual Web Developer Express (Windows) provides a full featured text
editor for web coding that supports HTML, CSS, and functionality for .NET programming.
It also provides a basic visual layout environment for website design and development.
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Web/