gogogadgetearl

2007.09.04

• i usually do all of my web design/coding in dreamweaver, but i've been looking for something more.  dreamweaver is a great program, i'm sure, but i've always felt like it was only "good enough".  to add to that, i don't need a WYSIWYG editor, i just need a robust text editor with a good bit of configuration options.  finding a cheaper [read: legal] solution would be nice, too.
  
  so, i've been checking out new text editors.  i get really picky about how my code looks, and i go to great lengths to get it looking right even while i code it (wasting a good bit of time indenting & spacing when i should just be coding).  so i've been looking for something that will soothe my OCD when i code my xml/html, css, javascript, and php - especially if it will format my code as i type.  here's a few features that i'm looking for (either natively or with some configuration):
  1. the basics: syntax highlighting, file tabs, etc.
  2. can autoclose brackets, braces, parentheses, and xml/html tags
  3. can autoindent the contents of block statements and multiline xml/html tags, then balance the braces/parent tags (as i type, not with TIDY)
  4. can autosuggest/autocomplete context-sensitive information
     1. xml/html elements & attributes (autocompleting the ="" on attributes, too)
     2. css properties & property-specific values
     3. keywords & built-in functions in whatever languages i'm using
     4. variable names (on-the-fly, so when i declare a variable, i get a drop-down suggestion for that variable name as i type it on the next line)
     5. autosuggest/autocomplete support for css, javascript, and php that is in-line with [x]html
  5. code folding
  6. code snippets/abbreviations
  7. robust customization of the display & behavior of the interface
     1. line numbers in the margin
     2. margin selection (not bookmarking or code breaks)
     3. drag-to-arrange tabs
     4. close buttons on all tabs
     5. etc...
  2 & 3 are fairly important because the more typing/formatting an editor will do for me, the the more time i can spend actually coding.  4 is crucial, i feel, because the more an editor autosuggests/autocompletes for me, the less typos i have, and the less time i spend typing the same tags, the same properties, the same functions, and the same variables...over and over.  for programmers/coders, that's huge.
  
  obviously, i haven't found all of those features in one editor yet - that list asks a lot.  however, i have discovered a highly configurable editor called scite.  scite comes through great with 1, 4d, 5, 6, and 7a & b.  2 & 3 can be accomplished with some intermediate scripting & configuration (i believe), but 4 will take some advanced scripting & configuration to implement.  so why do i like it?  for all of it's options.  there are so many ways to configure scite, it'll make your head spin.  and it has a pretty robust extension system, too.  i think it has tons of potential.
  
  unfortunately, one of the major drawbacks of scite is that i can hardly find any community for it.  there are no scite forums, few readily-available plugins/extensions, and practically no advanced documentation/examples for APIs and scripting.  i've sent a message to the project owner over at sourceforge.net, offering to host a forum for scite/scintilla.  we'll see if he responds.
  
  in the meantime, i'm going to be teaching myself more about scite thru trial and error.
  
  if anyone knows of an editor that meets most/all of my feature requests above, PLEASE tell me about it.  if you don't want to register to leave a comment, then at least email me.  thanx!!