These days, open source software is omnipresent, and one of the most popular ways coders contribute to it is by building code editors that make their life simpler. Code editors are user interfaces that allow users to directly edit code files. In this post, we’ll look at some of the greatest free source code editors for every platform. There’s an editor here for you whether you’re working with Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or even Android or iOS.
Atom
Atom is a free and open source text editor that’s developed by GitHub. It’s designed for coders that write in many different languages and file types, as well as for general text editing. It has a huge community behind it and is designed with extensibility and customization in mind. If you’re looking for a code editor that lets you seamlessly switch between languages, has a killer code autocomplete, and is well supported by a large community, then Atom is a great choice.
Komodo Edit
Built by ActiveState, Komodo Edit is another great code editor. It’s an open source editor that’s cross-platform and built using web technologies. As a result, it has a very familiar feel, even if you’ve never used it before. It supports many languages and frameworks, including Go, Python, and JavaScript. It also has support for many Git operations, such as branching, merging, and committing changes. Komodo Edit is a great choice for those who want a fully featured code editor that feels familiar and is cross-platform.
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is an extremely popular code editor, particularly among developers working with languages like Python and Ruby. It’s a commercial editor, which means that unlike Atom and Komodo Edit, it doesn’t have an open source license. That said, it is highly customizable and has many features that make it an extremely powerful code editor. If your language of choice is Python or Ruby, and you’re looking for a code editor that’s highly customizable, extensible, and deeply optimized, then Sublime Text is a great choice.
Netbeans
NetBeans is a free, open source integrated development environment (IDE) that can be used for many different languages and frameworks. It is particularly useful for Java developers, but it also supports C, C++, JavaScript, PHP, and many other languages and frameworks. If you’re a Java developer, particularly one working with enterprise applications, then NetBeans is a great choice. It has many powerful tools and plugins, such as a debugger and an autocomplete feature for the Java language. If you’re a Java developer and you’re looking for an open source tool that will let you write enterprise applications, then NetBeans is a great choice.
Emacs
Emacs is one of the oldest and most popular code editors. It’s a free and open source editor that has been around since the ’70s. It’s a powerful editor that can be extended in many ways. If you’re a developer that’s comfortable with a text-based editor, then Emacs is a great choice. It has all the features you’d expect from a modern code editor and is highly extensible. If you’re a developer that wants to keep things simple, keeps a terminal open side by side with your code editor, and doesn’t mind a text-based editor, then Emacs is a great choice.
Vim
Vim is another popular code editor, particularly among developers who like to be as efficient as possible. It’s a free and open source editor that can be downloaded and used for most any language. Like Emacs, it’s a text editor that can be extended in many ways. If you’re a developer that likes to use the keyboard as much as possible, doesn’t like to be distracted by unnecessary features, and prefers to stay within a terminal while coding, then Vim is a great choice. It’s one of the most popular code editors among developers and has an active community behind it.
Brackets
Brackets is a free and open source code editor that’s been rising in popularity recently. It’s a lightweight editor that’s designed for web developers. It has many features that are useful for front-end development, such as live preview, CSS autocomplete, and a code snippet library. If you’re a web developer who’s looking for a lightweight editor that makes writing code easier, then Brackets is a great choice. It has many great features, but it doesn’t get in your way either.
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a free and open source code editor that’s designed for many different languages. It’s a powerful editor with many tools and a large online community of extension developers behind it. If you’re a developer that likes the feeling of all the tools that come with a commercial editor but would prefer to use something open source, then Visual Studio Code is a great choice. It’s a full-featured editor that supports many languages, works cross-platform, and is well supported by a sizeable community.
Conclusion
Open source code editors are great tools that every developer should check out. They’re free, they’re open source, and they can be used on any platform. If you’re looking for a new code editor that’s extensible, customizable, and lightweight, there’s something for you here. Try out a few and see which one best fits your needs and workflow. You’ll be glad you did.