vi move over, there's a new kid in town
a geek, an engineer, mac-user, linux wizard, willing to give things a try
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JUL
31
2007
Macromates Textmate —
Macromates TextMate, is the first text editor that's claimed a permanent spot in my toolbox alongside the grand-daddy Vi. I've used it seriously since December 2006, and while I'm still not yet an expert in it, it's quickly become my editor of choice on the Mac. It's powerful enough to fill in for an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), but simple enough to use for routine scripting and text editing.The interface is clean and straightforward, and is consistent with that of other Mac apps. That said, there are a lot of key combos to learn and remember to really be effective. Thankfully, the learning curve is pretty low, and you'll only need a couple for basic editing. It would be nice to have a "Vi" mode like some other editors/IDEs just to make things a bit more comfortable for myself and the other *nix converts.
Textmate does a great job of syntax highlighting and has macros for a number of popular languages that can make scripting or programming a bit easier compared to very plain text editor. And that's all part of the default install, so there's really no reason not to use those features.
The only big drawback for me is that it ONLY works on the Mac. Which means I can't always use it when working on remote servers. There are a couple strategies to deal with that, but in a pinch I'm usually back in the old stand-by Vi.
Overall, it's a great editor and, at 39 euro with a 30-day free trial period, it's definitely worth a test run. But, like any editor/IDE, you get what you put into it.
Last edited on Jul 31, 2007
Macromates Textmate is recommended by jro
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