I currently installed Atom on my machine but it seems like I’m way better using the browser for coding(jsfiddle ,jsbin etc). I just got into web development(2 months) so I’m not doing any serious projects, just practicing js,html,css etc.
My question is: Should I learn how to use a text editor well(like sublime or atom) or should I keep coding in browser. Is it better for my future if I get confortable with a certain text editor?
These on-line editors are fine just for practice, experimentation and for sharing your ideas with others on the web.
I use Codepen, mainly for sharing code on the forums here, as it’s an easy way to display all the code and the end result on-line, in one place.
But it’s not something I use for creating real projects. They can have certain quirks and behaviour that differs from an actual page in any given browser, for example, Codepen does not require a doctype, head or body tags. On a real project, you need to view the pages as a standalone document in a variety of popular browsers and check the code in a validator to ensure everything is correct.
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Yes you should learn a few text editors. And you need to try a few for a while and check if they have tools that can help you be more effective. Like (no order, from the top of my head):
syntax coloring; for easier reading and overview code,
split window; view different files or places in code.
code formatter; very useful for imported code chunks,
macro recorder/editor; for repetitive tasks,
configurable shortcuts; i.e. key commands of your own choice,
project configurable; different settings saved with projects,
I’ll stop here and refer to: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Common_questions/Available_text_editors
Check out what other software you need to have in place: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Common_questions/What_software_do_I_need
I would recommend landing with a lightweight IDE (not Eclipse or Visual Studio or the likes) before the simplier text editors, then you can later expand to other languages. Mozilla mentions a few IDEs but I would say some of the free editors they listed also could fit as a lightweight IDE when they can save projects and handle more languages like java and php.
Most advanced text editors also have plugins to make them more versatile.
Just my two cents.
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Yes, you should learn, if you are practicing use sublime or atom else notepad++ netbeans etc there are many
Eclipse is also good to try. I’m using only Eclipse for both coding java, php and js/CSS
whilst a lot of people don’t like it i use Dreamweaver. I don’t use any of it’s pre-made code or templates etc as i code entirely from scratch but i learnt on it and am so used to it’s colouring system i find others hard. Obviously i am fully capable of reading html in plain text etc but colours make it faster for me.
Sometimes design view is useful for finding bits of text but i never use that view for placement etc purely to find something and switch back to code.
Having a built in FTP manager i find very useful as i can manage the 5+ sites i work on from one place.
Downside is it costs money. I have a very old version (mx) and cs5.5. The old version still does the job for me.
I suggest using a local IDE because a lot of them have syntax related completions. And they may also have customization that you can use to your advantage. As far as Atom, I haven’t used it before, but it does look like sublime which is also a useful IDE that I use.
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