editor : Java Glossary

Introduction

A program whose main function is composing and modifying text files, without embedded formatting for font, colour etc. A word processor, in contrast, creates proprietary format files that encode font, colour, size etc. One of the main uses of an editor is preparing Java source code or HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) for web pages. Every IDE comes with an editor. An editor might be used to create HTML, which has text formatting, but you work with raw text tags. It lets you create or modify plain text files such as *.txt *.bat *.btm *.csv *.java *.c *.cpp *.xml *.html. Word processors are not text editors, though sometimes they can be used that way.

Ideal Editor

A serious text editor should have the following features:

• Very rapid startup so it can also be used for tiny editing jobs.
• Ability to edit UTF-8 encoded files.
• Ability to configure to the keystroke commands to familiar patterns.
• Ability to write macros (ideally in Java) to automate features and run them by clicking a configurable icon.
• Allow you to edit files too big to fit all at once in RAM (Random Access Memory).
• Programmability gets more important over time as you learn to automate repetitive tasks. Programmability also lets you correct errors in the editor’s design.
• An editor often has a feature to invoke the compiler without leaving the editor. It can analyse the error messages and jump you to the next error in your source with single keystroke.
• They should do syntax colouring, or they are useless for Java.
• For serious work you will need a diff function for comparing file versions
• You also need a code beautifier so that all code is formatted in a standard way before committing it to the repository
• Programmers are notoriously bad spellers. A spell checker can help with documentation and choosing meaningful variable names.
• Editors don’t have integrated debuggers. If they did, they would be called IDEs (Integrated Development Environments).
• There are editors specialised for editing HTML such as Dreamweaver. These could be thought of as a specialised sort of word processor.

Choosing an Editor

Your choice of editor is crucial. You will use it more than any other program. It is very hard to switch editors because they each work differently and you do most of your editing without conscious thought about the particular keystrokes.

My favourite editor is SlickEdit®. However, I am using a very old version since the upgrade is so expensive. My old version cannot handle 16-bit characters. I am currently using JEdit, but is very buggy. My least favourite editor is EMACS (Extensible Macro System). It is just too unlike any other Windows program. Not even the mouse works the same way. It has a powerful LISP (List Processing language) macro language which is why people fall in love with it.

Programmable editors

Prices are in . Programmable editors include:

• Atom

  Version 1.5.0_beta3 Last revised/verified: 2016-02-03.

  Advantages

  • Macros are programmable in Atom.
  • It is actively being maintained.
  • I like the search function that tells you ahead of time how many items it will find. Further, it does not obscure the text you are searching. It does not seem to let you search backwards though.

  Disadvantages

  • If you exit without saving all your edits, it just discards all your work, usually without warning.
  • It often freezes.
  • It often starts running very slowly taking several seconds or even minutes to respond to each keystroke.
  • It often robotically types random HTML keywords similar to words you intended.
  • The load last file command does not work.
  • It does not let you select from a list of recently edited files.
  • It does not let you set up associations of extensions to automatically invoke the editor.
  • For some reason, when you start, it usually brings up a few files you were editing a day or so ago, not the files you were just editing.
  • It is tricky to invoke the editor on the command line with file names to edit:

  Tweaking Atom style sheets

• Codewright

  By Borland, now discontinued, née Premia, née Starbase was particularly good for columnar tasks. It was programmable in macros similar to C. It could also interface with DLLs (Dynamic Link Libraries).

• EMACS

  programmable in LISP. A religion rather than an editor as you will find out if you ever say anything unkind about it. Works in ways quite unlike any other Windows/NT program. Even the mouse works a different way. You can think of it as a programming environment. Free.

• jEdit

  programmable in Java/Bean Shell. Open source. written in Java. Can write macros and plugins in Java. Syntax highlighting for 130 file types. Free and open source. It has a unusual way of flipping between documents you are editing. Click the name of the document you are editing in the top left and a menu will appear of other documents you are editing. You can then select from there. It supports rectangular column selection by using the Ctrl key. This is that I am using myself.

• Multiedit

  About . C-like macro language. Focus on code beautification.

• NoteTabPro

  Programmable in its own macro language. It is fast capable of handling many documents simultaneously. It is available only for Windows. Only handles 8-bit char sets. Syntax highlighting only for CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), HTML, XML (extensible Markup Language). Edits HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language v 5).

• SlickEdit®

  programmable in SlickC a bailing wire C-like language. Can also interface with DLLs. It is fast, powerful and extensible. On the downside, I would prefer its macro language were Java rather that SlickC. It is available for Windows, Linux, Solaris etc. About for the professional version. (version control, fast navigation via a symbol table like an IDE (Integrated Development Environment)) for the standard version. for the core version for Eclipse. Ironically SlickEdit better at the bread and butter tasks such as adding hyperlinks and CSS styles, not because it was designed for HTML, but because it has programmable macros so you can do these jobs in one click or keystroke. You can set up a row of icons and click them to invoke the corresponding macros. This makes generating text very quick.

• UltraEdit

  . Edits UTF-8. Smart templates. Claims to be best selling text editor in the world. Diff utility is sold separately. Keystroke macros with if branching, but not Java. No ability to assign icon buttons to macro functions.

• VIM

  A VI clone often distributed with Unix. It adds functionality to VI for programmers. It is not a user-friendly editor, more in the tradition of EMACs with a long learning curve.

Non programmable editors

Prices are in . Non programmable editors include:

• Bluefish

  Free and open source. No macros or plugins. Focus on HTML editing.

• Ed

  simple editor.

• EditPlus

  No programmability, but has keystroke record. Designed for Java, Php, HTML.

• Notepad

  comes free with Windows. Has nothing else to recommend it other than ubiquity.

• Notepad++

  free, written in C++ for Windows. Allows plugins written in a variety of languages including Pascal, Oberon and Python. Has keystroke recorder macros. No macro language. Chameleon logo.

• TextPad

  has syntax colouring. Only to register.

• Zeus

  : shareware.

Tips

• Text will not line up properly unless you have configured your editor to use monospaced font or ever better a programmer font.
• Best to test drive an editor before purchase. You may hate something others like. I invite you to tell me about your favourite editors, where you can get them, and what you like/dislike most about them. What counts as a high end editor vs a low end IDE is a gray area. Editors are typically much faster which is why I prefer them to IDEs for all but debugging.
• Though you can use a general purpose text editor for nearly everything, you will find it more efficient to use specialised editors for Java ( IDE), CSS, HTML, XML, binary files…