Top 11 Best HTML Editors 2020 from Coding compiler. Here in this blog
What is an HTML editor?
What is an HTML editor? – HTML editor is a software tool used to write the basis of websites. And, despite the fact that virtually any text editor can be used to create websites, this does not mean that you should use a regular text editor instead of a specially created developer tool. Modern HTML editors have a lot of built-in mechanisms that greatly simplify the work with sites. Highlighting special syntax, error checking, prompting and inserting commonly used HTML code elements, auto-completion mechanisms — these and many other mechanisms of modern HTML editors make it easier every day for programmers, web designers and designers.
However, the HTML editor is not a single program at all – it is a group of programs, each of which has its own functionality, has its own peculiarities of use, its own set of pros and cons. The task of such a tool as an HTML editor is to reduce the effort you put into keeping your code functional and clean.
What are HTML editors? By classifying them according to their function and capabilities, they are distinguished: WYSIWYG editors and HTML text editors.
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WYSIWYG editors
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) – an abbreviation of this type of editors translates as “what you see, you will get.” Another name for such editors is visual HTML editors. In fact, the task of this type of editors is to provide an editing interface in which you can immediately see how the implementation of the code will look on the current page of the site in the browser. For the simplest work in the editor of this type does not need knowledge of HTML. It is easier to start a job with such an editor for a novice user who does not have experience writing code.
This type of editors is often embedded in web sites, to simplify the customization of the site’s appearance using some pre-written templates or to edit the site content.
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HTML text editors
Actually, as the name implies, this type of HTML editors is focused directly on working with text (code). To use such an editor, you will need knowledge of at least HTML. In the process of using such an editor, you will not be able to constantly observe the finished implementation of the page of the website you are developing.
However, the use of a text editor gives the developer much more freedom, opportunities to optimize the code, etc.
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Top HTML Editors
We looked at what an HTML editor is and a few examples of when a particular type of editor can be used. Consider several popular products for development, and try to determine which text editor is more suitable for you to solve your problems.
Choosing a development tool is a matter of taste. Each professional developer makes this choice based on his own preferences, how he will work with the HTML editor. However, there are a number of code editors that developers choose most often.
Stack Overflow annually ranks the most frequently used developer tools. Consider the results of this survey among web developers for 2018.
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The Best HTML Editors
Visual studio code
Released by Microsoft based on Atom code, the Visual Studio Code has a part of the IDE (Integrated Development Environment) functional – an integrated development environment – a powerful program that contains, in addition to a text code editor, a number of other mechanisms that allow you to analyze, launch and debug it. Often it is this tool that represents when it is said what functionality an IDE should have for web development. In many ratings of free HTML editors, it is Visual Studio Code that takes the first place, being used by developers more and more often. So, for example, according to Stack Overflow, this editor in 2017 was used by 24% of web developers, and in 2018 – already 38.7.
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Pros Visual Studio Code
- It has a significant part of the IDE functionality .
- Built-in powerful auto-complete mechanism – IntelliSense.
- A significant number of extensions and additions.
- Integrated with Git out of the box.
- There is a built-in debugger for JavaScript code, TypeScript, Node.js
- Open source application.
- Visual Studio Code is free.
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Cons Visual Studio Code
- Of the minuses, developers note that the application is running quite a long time.
- Search for projects is relatively slow.
Notepad ++
Notepad ++ is a lightweight text editor designed for Windows computers. Linux users can also use it through Wine. Notepad ++, released in 2003, is a proven and well-established tool of many developers, being a convenient text editor for HTML code. This editor is distributed as free software and its repository is available on GitHub. Notepad ++ supports third-party plug-ins.
The main advantages of Notepad ++
- Notepad ++ is a simple, resource-free tool.
- There is a portable version.
- The functionality of the program is easily extended by many plug-ins. If you wish, you can create such a plugin yourself.
- The program interface is also easily customizable.
- Supports work with a large number of tabs at the same time.
- Notepad ++ is a 100% free program.
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Disadvantages of Notepad ++
- The vast majority of users of this text editor HTML code does not find any flaws in it. However, we can note some minimalist interface, which is not suitable for a number of users.
- It can also be noted that this editor is not an IDE and does not carry any additional functionality. For this reason, many users have to use some kind of development environment in addition to the Notepad ++ editor.
Sublime text
Another example of an excellent HTML text editor is Sublime. This program comes free with some restrictions. In other words – you can use Sublime for free, but you have to buy a license if you want to use all the features of this editor.
Sublime offers excellent support, providing a constant release of current updates. Users can add plugins created by the community or create their own. For a large number of developers, the use of the free version of Sublime will be quite sufficient. If you need more features, you can buy a license later.
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Pros Sublime
Cross platform Sublime runs on operating systems such as Windows, OS X, and Linux.- Sublime is a lightweight tool that does not boot the system.
- There is a portable version.
- Sublime provides thousands of different open source add-ons that are created by a large and active community.
- Separate editing. Developers can use multiple monitors and edit different sections of code at the same time.
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Sublime Disadvantages
- Not all functionality is available to the user for free.
- A number of users have noted the inconvenience of working with the plugin manager.
- A number of third-party plug-ins may not work correctly.
IntelliJ based Webshorm
WebStorm is a very convenient development environment for web development. WebStorm was developed by JetBrains based on their other product, IDE IntelliJ.
Pros WebStorm
- Convenient auto-completion of both HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code.
- Check for errors and convenient debugging of the code is provided through integration with a number of error tracking systems.
- Built-in integration with version control systems like GitHub, Git, as well as Subversion, Perforce and Mercurial.
- Flexibility settings.
- Quite a large number of plugins.
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WebStorm Disadvantages
- Inherent to all IDE sluggishness in work and demands for resources.
- Relatively complex settings.
- Paid IDE, distributed by subscription.
Vim
Vim (short for – Vi Improved) is a powerful portable text editor with a very rich history – it is over 27 years old. It has a rich functionality, with the ability to deeply customize the program for themselves. In its original form it works in the console window. You can use the version with a graphical window interface – Gvim. It is worth noting that many modern IDEs, to improve the development process, contain the Vim functionality emulator.
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Pros of using Vim
- Full-fledged work in a variety of operating systems – Windows, Linux, Amiga, Mac OS X, Unix, OpenVMS, OS / 2.
- Deep customization of the editor for themselves.
- Very low requirements for careers. And, accordingly – high speed.
- Ability to edit or view a file on a remote server through the terminal
- Over 14,000 extension packs available.
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Vim drawbacks
- One of the most difficult to learn development tools. The high threshold of entry requires a significant amount of time from the user to memorize his features, commands, plug-ins, and so on.
Eclipse
Using Eclipse as an HTML editor is often considered redundant. Being a full-fledged and multi-functional development system, it is likely to be unnecessarily difficult to write HTML and CSS code. Fully its capabilities Eclipse will be able to show in the development of complex sites, tied to work with multiple databases and additional mechanisms.
Often this Eclipse is used to work with pages written in Java, PHP, JavaScript, and a number of other programming languages.
Eclipse Pros
- Full IDE with all the features of a powerful development tool.
- Cross-platform work with Windows, MacOS X, Linux.
- A significant number of extensions and add-ons that help you flexibly customize Eclipse for various tasks.
- Eclipse is free software.
Cons Eclipse
- The difficulty of setting up this IDE.
- Excessive overload for developing relatively simple HTML and CSS sites.
- Resource intensity of the application.
Atom
Atom is a relatively new HTML editor. It was released in 2014 by the GitHub team, and since then, with the support of the GitHub community, has greatly increased its popularity. This text editor is free, open source. Interestingly, as the slogan for Atom, the phrase “the most hacked text editor of the 21st century” is used, meaning that any developer can contribute to editing, extending, modifying and sharing the source code of the program, as well as creating its own packages for improving Atom .
What opportunities gives Atom
- Atom is a cross-platform application and runs on operating systems such as Windows, OS X and Linux.
- Thanks to the smart autofill mechanism, Atom helps you write code faster.
- The Atom interface feature allows you to split an interface into multiple windows so that you can compare and write code in these windows at the same time.
- Atom is an advanced text editor with IDE capabilities, thanks to various plugins.
- Supports the development of languages such as: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, XML, PHP, Java, SQL, C # and many others.
Atom pluses
- For Atom, there are a large number of add-ons, plug-ins and extensions. So, out of the box, the Atom comes with 81 built-in packages, and you can also add up to 7,500 additional installable packages. You can also develop your own package.
- The presence of a large number of add-ons allows you to flexibly customize the interface of the editor.
- Open source. The entire Atom editor is distributed free of charge by providing its source code available on GitHub.
- Excellent integration with Git and GitHub.
- Teletype plugin support. This plugin allows you to write code directly in real time with other developers.
Cons Atom
- Atom is quite a “voracious” program, taking over a relatively large amount of RAM.
- Support for various languages is determined by the functionality of plug-ins written by various developers, and not by a single organization.
Consider a number of applications that are often used as HTML editors.
Adobe Dreamweaver CC
Adobe Dreamweaver CC, developed and managed by technology giant Adobe Inc, is a powerful and versatile premium tool. It serves both back-end and front-end development. As a closed source software, Dreamweaver is designed to work in the Adobe ecosystem. Adobe also provides support, plugins and features so you can always write code without any problems.
Dreamweaver is one of the editors that support both text and WYSIWYG methods of working with code. Many users of this program consider Dreamweaver the best visual code editor. Thus, you can choose whether you want to work with the visual presentation of the page or go the classic way of editing text.
The main advantages of Dreamweaver CC.
- Dreamweaver allows you to write code in any of the major programming languages.
- Supports text and WYSIWYG editor modes.
- Convenient preview. The ability to see what a tag looks like by simply highlighting it.
- Fully integrated with the Adobe software ecosystem.
- Awesome performance.
- Support from Adobe Inc.
- Subscribing to Dreamweaver gives you access to a number of cloud libraries containing a huge amount of graphics, styles, layers, and more.
Disadvantages of Adobe Dreamweaver CC
- The main disadvantage of this editor is the price and terms of distribution. Like other Adobe products, Dreamweaver CC is only subject to subscription terms.
Brackets
Brackets is an Adobe software product designed specifically for designers and front-end developers and released in 2012. Distributed, unlike Dreamweaver, for free, this young text editor cannot boast a large selection of plug-ins, but it works fine with HTML, CSS and JavaScript — the main languages of the front-end developer.
Pros Brackets
- Connect with Google Chrome. The main feature of the Brackets editor, highlighted by many developers, is real-time communication with Google Chrome. Using this mechanism, the developer can immediately observe the changes as these changes are displayed in the browser.
- Availability on Windows, MacOs, Linux.
- Brackets is recognized as one of the best text editors for MacOs.
- Widely developed hotkey system.
- The main feature that distinguishes Brackets from other HTML editors is the “Extract” function. The extraction feature allows you to extract information directly from PSDs — such as fonts, colors, and dimensions, with pure CSS and no contextual links to the code.
Cons Brackets editor
- A small number of extensions, in comparison with other editors on the market.
- Lack of support for server languages (Python, PHP, Ruby).
CoffeeCup HTML editor
HTML editor CoffeeCup is available on the market in both free and full – paid version. Despite the low prevalence in the Russian segment of the Internet, the HTML editor CoffeeCup is quite popular abroad. Released for the first time back in 1996, by 2008, the editor had already sold 30 million copies.
Pros CoffeeCup
- In the paid version is available in addition to the text – also a WYSIWYG editor.
- CoffeeCup is fully compatible with Windows and MacOS platforms.
- The paid version of the CoffeeCup HTML editor includes a tag library, HTML and CSS validation, completion of presumptive code, etc.
- Convenient tag auto-completion.
Disadvantages of CoffeeCup
- A significant part of the functionality and materials of the library is presented only in the paid version.
HTML Online
We conclude our review of popular HTML editors, a handy tool for creating and editing code directly in the browser — HTML Online. HTML-Online is a simple and convenient web page editor. He is probably one of the best HTML visual editors for cedi online services. Thanks to the service HTML-Online, you can start writing the code of your new site directly in the browser, without having to download and install the appropriate program.
Advantages of HTML Online
- It is both a text and visual editor, allowing you to monitor the results of writing right in the design process.
- Conveniently convert files from Word documents to HTML, which allows you to immediately apply the rules of HTML markup to materials from Word-ovsky files. Built-in support for working with documents Excel, PDF and other formats.
- Simple graphic HTML editor.
Disadvantages of HTML Online
- The main disadvantage of online text editors in general, and HTML-Online in
particular, is the need to write code immediately. If you don’t write a project at once, or your Internet connection is broken, you’ll have to start the project from the beginning. - Functional online editors look paler, against the background of full-featured applications.
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Conclusion
Each successful developer has the opportunity to choose the most suitable editor tool for himself. With its functionality “out of the box” and available plugins.
We reviewed a number of editors, recognized by most developers as the best HTML editors. Can we choose the best web page editor among them? Unfortunately not.
As you can see, to facilitate the work of the front-end developer, there are many different applications that differ in both built-in functionality and design, access to plug-ins and additional libraries, and a threshold for entry and accessible platforms on which editors work. These diverse applications are merely tools in the hands of man, applied on the basis of a specific task and personal preference.
It is not so important that you immediately choose for yourself once and for all a convenient text editor for HTML, as it is important that you continue to write new websites, learn new technologies and discover new tools for yourself without ceasing to learn.
Great post, all the mentioned editors are indeed the best of best.