to switch between functions. Press Esc to dismiss the command
palette altogether.5
SeArcH And replAce code
Code Writer has a simple but excellent search feature.
To get started, click the “Search” button on the right-
hand side to open the Find dialog. From here, you can enter your
search term and click “Find Next” to start scanning your code.
Pay close attention to the checkboxes, which allow you to match
the case, whole words, and regular expressions.
>> To replace text, simply toggle the replace mode by clicking
the arrow next to the search box. Fill in the fields marked “Find
what” and “Replace with,” then choose either “Replace Next” or
“Replace All.”6
SHAre your code
Code Writer has no built-in collaboration tools, nor can
you automatically publish content to GitHub. You can,
however, share code files via Mail, Microsoft OneNote, Skype,
and a few other select apps. To use this feature, save the file on
which you are currently working, then click the “Share” button
on the right-hand side. From here, you can enter your contact
name and select an app for sharing. Files are sent in the same
format in which they are saved—HTML, for example.7
tHeme edItor
While most users appreciate Code Writer for its simple
minimalistic interface, you can make some tweaks if
you wish. Click “Settings” at the bottom-right of the screen to
view the Editor preferences. Code Writer offers three themes:
Dark (default), Light, and Obsidian. From here, you can also
change the font type and text size [Image d]. This only affectsDCthe Code Writer interface, and doesn’t change your code
formatting. If you still have trouble navigating your
code, enable “Current Line Highlighting” to easily track
the line on which you are currently working.8
cuStomIze fIle typeS
Code Writer supports a number of programming
languages, but this can be truly overwhelming if
you only use one or two. You may also wish to work with
code files that aren’t supported by default in the app.
>> To view supported code files, click the “Settings”
button at the bottom-right, then select the “File Types”
tab [Image e]. Uncheck the box next to any programming
languages you don’t use. In future, these won’t be
displayed as an option when you click to create new code.
To add a custom file extension, click the “+” button while
selecting a supported programming language. This
creates a custom extension with a default name of .ext1.
Click and type to edit the new file name and extension.EThe Code Writer team recognizes that most programmers
are keyboard veterans, and may even have started coding
before the advent of the computer mouse. For this reason,
virtually every command in the application can be accessed
via a keyboard shortcut. There’s a comprehensive list of
these available in the Code Writer documentation, which
you can access by clicking the “?” at the bottom-right
corner of the screen.
If you’re keen to begin coding, we’ve listed a quick-start
guide of some of the most useful keyboard commands
below to get you started.
Ctrl-Tab: Switch to the next document.
Ctrl-Shift-E: Open the Explorer sidebar.
Back or Shift-Back: Backspace.
Ctrl-G: Open the Command Palette in go-to line mode.
Ctrl-Shift-G, D: Format document.
Ctrl-Right: Move to the next word.
Shift-Ctrl-Home: Move to the start of the document.
Ctrl-Shift-W: Select the current word.
Ctrl-Shift-U: Make uppercase.KeyboArd
shortcuts
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