Top 7 Text Editors You Can't Miss In 2021

 

Editors are one of the essential tools for programmers. A text editor helps a programmer to code fast and write the correct code. 

There are many text editors available these days. The majority of text editors have plugins and extensions that make the coding process faster. 

These text editors also have the feature of auto-completion of code. Auto-completion of code implies whenever you are trying to use predefined methods or a user-defined method.

Intuitive interfaces and a user-friendly workspace can boost your productivity and workflow while programming. 

You can choose any editor from the available list of text editors. Tagging a text editor as best would not be a nice thing to do. The reason behind this is that the choice of editor is the programmer's decision. 

But for your help, I have mentioned a list of the top 7 text editors available for all the programmers. 

You can try and play around with these editors and can choose the one which you like. 

Let's dive in with the list of the top 7 text editors for every programmer

Top 7 Text Editors 

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is one of the best text editors available for you to write your code. It is a highly customizable code editor which you can use for the majority of languages. 

I use visual studio code for all my projects and assignments. It has a plethora of extensions for different purposes. 

There is an extension for a live demo while you code your web development project to extensions for version control systems like git. 

There are many themes for changing the visual appearance of the text editor. Thus, you can customize the interface according to your visual preferences. 

This text editor is built by Microsoft and is open-source software. 

You can choose this text editor for all your big and small projects. The IntelliSense feature of the editor can help you increase the speed of your code. 

IntelliSense feature provides the auto code completion feature.

Attractive features of visual studio code are:

• Customizable 
• Intuitive interface
• Availability of lots of extensions
• Extensions for GIT 
• Ideal text editor for big and complex projects

You can download the visual studio code from the official download link. 

Sublime Text 

It is a lightweight text editor available for programmers. It has loads of features to easily track the changes and improvements you make to your project. 

It automatically detects the type of file you create. You can work with sublime irrespective of the operating system. It works on Windows, Mac, and Linux. 

For easy detection of code blocks, sublime possesses the feature of syntax highlighting. Syntax highlighting with different colors helps to identify various code blocks and functions used in code. 

Just like visual studio code, the sublime text has loads of plugins available through the package manager. You can easily add these plugins to increase the performance while you code. 

Attractive features of the sublime text are:

• It provides you the ability to solve errors in your project code
• It provides functionality to manage changes in your project through plugins for version control systems like GIT
• The syntax highlighting features provides visual effects for a programmer to identify the errors
• It is a lightweight and fast text editor
• It auto indents your code for proper formatting

You can download the Sublime editor from the official download link. 

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a great text editor for beginners. It is easy to use a text editor with a simple interface. 

If you are a beginner at coding, then you can start with Notepad++. It has a minimal interface with lots of options to work while programming. 

You can also use this editor as a text editor and write your notes.

With notepad++, you can specify the file type by saving the file with the file type extension. 

Once you save the file with the appropriate extension, Notepad++ will provide you with syntax highlighting and auto-completion. 

The only drawback you can face is that this text editor is available for Windows operating system only. 

Attractive features of Notepad++ are:

• Code auto-completion feature 
• Syntax Highlighting 
• Automatic closing of the curly braces and brackets you enter while coding. 
• The interface is customizable according to your requirements
• Free software with full-fledged functions

You can download the Notepad++ editor from the official link. 

Atom 

Atom is an open-source text editor provided by GitHub. Its interface is minimal and easy to use. Atom's interface is similar to that of Sublime text. 

But this doesn't imply that both are similar. Both the editors have differences in their functioning. Atom is a reliable and quick editor with out-of-box integration with git and GitHub. 

Though Atom had stability and performance issues, now all have been resolved. Thus, if you are looking for a text editor with a simple interface, Atom is for you. 

Attractive features of Atom are:

You can develop and submit your packages

• Excellent integration with git and GitHub
• Reliable text editor
• Available for Mac, Linux, and Windows
• Auto-completion feature

You can download the Atom text editor from the official link. 

Codespace 

Codespace is a browser-based coding editor. It is one of the HTML text editors provided by Microsoft. 

Visual code is another editor provided by Microsoft. 

The difference between Visual Code and Codespace is that Codespace is entirely browser-based. It provides built-in support to Git and GitHub. You can work on your crucial projects from any device. 

One of the attractive features of Codespaces is that it provides built-in integration with the command line. With the command line, you can compile and debug your applications. 

You can even launch Codespace from GitHub. This feature allows you to work whenever you want from any device. 

Attractive features of Codespace editor are as follows:

• Built-in integration for git and GitHub 
• Browser-Based
• Ideal code editor for collaborative project work
• You can function without an internet connection as well
• Allows to work from anywhere

You can use the Codespace editor from the official link.

Brackets 

Brackets is another open-source software by Adobe. It is one of the best text editors available for beginners.

 It is a beginner-friendly code editor and provides an intuitive user interface. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux users. So you don't have to worry about the platform availability. 

The prime focus of brackets is providing support for front-end technologies. Brackets text editor supports CSS preprocessors like Sass. 

It is a customizable text editor. You can customize the menu of the text editor, the interface, etc. 

With brackets, you can edit any project and files. You can even edit configuration files with Bracket. You can even split the windows of your editor and work on multiple files together. 

Attractive features of Brackets are:

• Customizable interface 
• Split window working view helps in working with multiple files
• You can quickly identify and correct styling issue in HTML files
• Intuitive UI 
• Beginner-friendly 

You can download the Brackets editor from the official link. 

Netbeans IDE

If you have ever worked on Java projects, then you have heard about this text editor. But Netbeans is not limited to Java only. 

With Netbeans, you can also work on C++ and PHP projects along with many other languages. Netbeans is a full-fledged IDE and provides a lot many functionalities to the developer. 

Netbeans provides compilers, code analyzers, error detection mechanisms, and convertors for an easy and efficient development environment. 

It provides the feature of syntax highlighting and autocompletion. With Netbeans, you can also view and manage the project structure. It provides a dedicated side menu for you to view and organize the project structure. 

Netbeans also provides an inspector window to inspect the organization and hierarchy of the components of your project. 

Attractive features of Netbeans are:

• Completely free to use with a plethora of services
• Error detection mechanism 
• Allows for rapid development 
• Allows organized and efficient management of projects 
• Provides an efficient mechanism for building test scripts for automation testing. 

You can download the Netbeans IDE from the official link. 

How To Choose The Right Text Editor For You?

If you are beginning your journey as a developer, choosing the right editor can be a blessing. The choice of editor depends upon the requirement of the developer. 

Before going with any editor, you must ensure that the editor has all the features according to your project requirements. 

Here are some of the points you can check for before choosing your text editor:

Auto-Completion Feature

The auto-completion feature can be a helping hand while building a large project. With auto-completion, you can write a method if you know the slightest information about that method. 

Syntax Highlighting Feature

Syntax highlighting provides visual differences in the code you write. It helps you distinguish the built-in methods and functions of the language from the ones you write. You can easily detect errors and debug your code with highlighted errors. 

Error Detection Extensions or Mechanisms

Many editors support plugins for error detection. These extensions are language-specific. You can install these extensions and detect errors while you write code. In addition, there are IDE's that support error detection as a built-in feature. One such is Netbeans IDE. 

Support For Multiple Languages

These days editors provide support for various programming languages. If your work involves working with different programming languages, choose an editor that supports many languages. It would prevent installing multiple text editors, each for another programming language. 

Built-In Debugging Features

Debugging features allow you to test and debug your applications during the development process. Debugging also helps you to prevent uninvited problems during the production phase of the application. Always choose an editor that supports built-in debugging functionality. 

I hope this small guide will help you to choose the text editor you require for your project. 

Conclusion 

Text editors are a crucial part of the development process. Choosing the right text editor can simplify your project development process. Here, in this post, we listed the top 7 text editors that you can use. 

Also, we mentioned the official download links of all the editors. Thus, you can read about an editor, choose one and then download straight. You don't have to search for the download link separately. 

In addition, there is a small guide that could help you choose the right text editor for your project. Go through the pointers and decide which text editor is best suited to your project development.