Ever since I moved to Mac OS X from linux as my main desktop platform a bit more than 4 years ago, I found the shortage of a decent (let alone good) dev. editor frustrating.
In linux I used vim and emacs, and combined they more or less satisfied my needs (although they are both obsolete in countless ways). Some years earlier I used TextPad on Windows. On OS X, Textedit is definitely unsuitable for the role of a power-editor, although I appreciate it’s speed and features as the bundled OS X editor.
For a long time, while at university, I used SubEthaEdit (SEE), a nifty editor that provides real-time collaboration between multiple authors on the same document. Along with iChat/Skype, it proved to be an excellent pair programming tool. But as an editor as a whole? Despite some excellent features, like its blockediting mode, SEE fell short of my expectations of a dev. editor. For starters it’s slow and then it lacks many of the project management features I’d like in my disposal.
In January, the creators of SEE, CodingMonkeys changed its licence to shareware, removing the part of the licence that allowed free use for non-commercial purposes. They still provide the previous version, 2.2 in the older licence, but they are asking for about €30 for the newer one.
So, I found myself in the market for a good editor. Was SEE the best I could get? Was it worth its €30? Was there another one that could provide enough power in an intelligent way? After some searching I found TextMate. I gave it a try, and very quickly realised I had found something much better than what I’d tried before. TextMate costs more than SEE (at €39), but in my opinion is worth it. After all, a good editor is an essential tool. I still use SEE for collaborative tasks, although those are not very frequent, so I am not just yet willing to shell out €30 for it. I occasionally still use Textedit when the odd RTF or .DOC comes my way.
If you’re using OS X and are in need of a good text editor, give TextMate a try. If you haven’t already, try SEE, if only to experience its collaborative feature: it’s definitely impressive and sometimes quite useful.
I am in no way affiliated with the creators of TextMate or SEE.
