Best Free Text Editor For All Popular Languages (R, Python, Perl Etc..)
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12.7 years ago
John ★ 1.5k

I am using tinn-R (R editor) and notepad++ as general text editors. I wonder if there is a better text editor for free, that is multi-purpose. I have heard about UltraEdit but need to buy it. Wikipedia has extensive list with comparision but I do not know what is good and what is bad. I need to use both Windows and Linux. .....

text r perl python • 25k views
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12.7 years ago
Burlappsack ▴ 690

I have been getting great mileage with vi, covering all my text writing and a good deal of reading as well. It's available on almost all Unix/Linux machines, and I'm sure there is a port to Cygwin out there.

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+1 for vi......

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+1 for vi(m), even if I normally use a different editor, learning some basics in vi is essential, because it is often the only available editor if you are logged in to a server's console, and requires text mode only.

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12.7 years ago

for all my text needs: emacs, textwrangler

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emacs for me: +1.

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+1 for emacs, especially the R-integration is very good. I am using AquaEmacs, everything works out-of-the-box.

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+1 for emacs...

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Sad that this is how I earned the "nice answer badge"... oh well :-). I haven't used Aquamacs. I will have to check it out.

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it's called Aquamacs btw...

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GNU emacs - It is what I use on the servers. I don't really use Aquamacs although I do have it on my laptop.

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12.7 years ago

I use RStudio Server for anything and everything in R. The web app is amazingly seamless, just as performant as a desktop app. It also keeps your session alive so when you get home it is like you never left work.

It is a shame there is nothing similar for general text editing.

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"when you get home it is like you never left work"... Is it really a good point? I'm just kidding... ;-)

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Rstudio standalone versions works great as well!

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for general editing I have been using Cloud9 https://c9.io, which is definitely not free if you need privacy but is definitely worth every penny

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12.7 years ago
Chris Khoo ▴ 190

Sublime Text is a pretty good one as well - http://www.sublimetext.com/

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+1 for sublime text. Not only it is awesome but it is implemented in python, highly dynamic and really customizable.

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Why does it matter what language it's implemented in?

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Oh sorry, somehow I missed the point before expressing it. I forgot to say it. An advantage of it being implemented in python is that any customization you add gets active on the fly, for instance, you can implement snippets and incorporate them to the software (even add options to the GUI) in execution time, without even restarting the editor. This could have been done with other languages, but certainly not with all of them (at least not easily), so for this reason I consider it an advantage. The fact that these snippets and add-ons can also be implemented in python is an advantage for me, although probably this one is a very subjective advantage.

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Sublime is the most I used, really usefull and friendly

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Yep...sublime text is the one! Keep in your mind these words "Multiple Selects"!

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Liked it!! Cool.

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12.7 years ago
Michael 55k

I am using Eclipse IDE solely for Java, where it really shines, by providing auto-comepletion (makes you a lazy programmer), auto correction (makes you even more lazy) on the fly documentation browsing, subversion integration, code generation for web-services, and another gazillion of features and plug-ins I haven't even found yet. Other IDEs like NetBeans will most likely be as good or even better. Eclipse is a heavyweight (memory, slow response), actually for most scripting tasks in bioinformatics it is way oversized.

If I wanted to use it for a quick perl script, I'd have that script finished and debugged in emacs while eclipse wouldn't even have completed loading yet. Also, while plugins for perl and R exist, they do not provide the same richness of auto-(write my code for me) features as the Java environment. As a consequence, I use emacs for Perl and R. Especially the R-integration in emacs is very solid. Also, if you are new to Java or programming I would abstain from any IDE, because IDEs hinder the process of really learning a language IMO. It is like trying to learn a new language by using google translate.

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+1 For the review of Eclipse. I use Emacs (or Aquamacs) for writing Perl scripts, but for larger programs or modules the EPIC - Eclipse integration really shines. It helps you keep track of all variable and subroutine names, takes care of formatting how you like automatically, and gives you warnings without having to execute the program. http://www.epic-ide.org/

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12.7 years ago
Gustavo ▴ 530

http://www.jedit.org/ is excellent.

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looks great - I was looking for free software with Folding option ..

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My favorite jEdit feature is that you can select a part of the document on both directions, e.g. a column of few characters wide, over multiple lines. This very conveniently combines with doing replacements.

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+1 My Favorite. But plugins are a must have!

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12.7 years ago
Geparada ★ 1.5k

I'm using Geany. It's a small and fast IDE and I really like it!

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12.7 years ago
Dan D 7.4k

There's the StatET plugin for Eclipse:

http://navisan.com/Articles/EclipseRHTML.aspx

^ The link is a bit of a year 1999 flashback, but the information within is useful

EDIT: Here's a link to the StatET page:

http://www.walware.de/goto/statet

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12.7 years ago
Casual ▴ 90

Vim is good enough for ya~

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12.7 years ago
Peter Kovac ▴ 70

PSPad is very good freeware editor for Windows. It has an extension for R, as well as syntax highlighting for many languages with highlighted export to RTF and HTML, macros, and an integrated FTP client.

And for the Linux: Gnome based distros usually go with gedit included. gedit has many standard text-editor features and there is a package called gedit-r-plugin which integrates R console into gedit. However, more general and IMHO more powerful option is integrated terminal.

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12.7 years ago
Madhan ▴ 260

For windows, i am using Textpad which is very good. It has a trial version which 'll working for years ;).

And for unix based system, TextWrangler would be my choice.

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10.6 years ago
Dan D 7.4k

Notepad++ forever and ever. It's theme-able, allows you to view whitespace and control characters, has code highlighting for most languages, it has Sublime's column select feature, it allows you to view documents side-by-side in the same window...I could go on and on...

If you're a windows user it's a necessity.

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12.7 years ago
raunakms ★ 1.1k

I've been using GNU nano text editor for these purpose.

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12.7 years ago
Mick ▴ 30

For R it has to be Tinn-R

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12.7 years ago

In windows I'd recommend Crimson Editor; which can be used as a regular notepad, and comes with multiple language support (see 'syntax file folders'). Works fine for me with R, Perl, matlab and HTML codes.

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10.7 years ago
stas • 0

I like Codelobster

It works best for all languages of web development

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10.7 years ago
jackuser1979 ▴ 890

I use vim on linux and gvim on windows. gvim on windows very good utility to open large file data (like NGS).

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10.7 years ago
paulr ▴ 80

I've enjoyed PyCharm -- has plug-in support for additional languages.

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10.6 years ago

i already use this excellent tool free and sample http://www.jedit.org/

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7.2 years ago
stas • 0

I enjoy Codelobster

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7.2 years ago

MICROSOFT OFFICE WORD XD

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I suppose you forgot the /s tag.

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