![]() ![]() However, if you’re still one of those astronomers that use IDL, and you’re on a Mac, go check out this great BBEdit and TextWrangler plug in in that provides syntax highlighting for IDL. Of course, the one problem is that while Emacs comes packaged with syntax highlighting for pretty much any language you could want, BBEdit requires you to do a little work if you use odd little scripting languages like IDL (also known as “Matlab for Astronomers”). But sometimes I just want something that works and has nice, modern design touches (hover autocomplete, cold folding, etc). I know, I know, I can go put whatever lisp commands I want in my. While I do (sometimes) still use Emacs on my Mac (and I pretty much have to if I’m working on remote code on our Linux machines), I’ve found that the popular Mac port Aquamacs has all of the bells and whistles of a fully customizable text editor but it lacks all of the polish of a really finished standalone application. TextWrangler is completely free, though, so you really don’t have any excuse to load up XCode if you’re doing some quick python or php development. These are real developers who want to make a living making their Apps, so BBEdit does cost a little money to try. BBEdit (from Bare Bones Software) is one of the classic Mac apps for pretty much doing anything that requires a keyboard. If you’re not familiar with BBEdit (and it’s lightweight companion TextWrangler) then you probably didn’t grow up editing HTML on a Mac. I use BBEdit for most (all) of my text needs these days. Sometimes after you tell yourself you’re not going to develop in a language again you find an awesome new tool… Oh well, BBEdit is only the equivalent of $50 nowadays so I might try anyway later on.Okay, so I’ve been trying to wean myself off of IDL in favor of python. It's not really questioning whether Sublime Text is "powerful enough" or not (why wouldn't it be?) but rather how it's all achieved and presented between the two editors. ![]() My current text editor of choice is Sublime Text, which I like to write and do some light coding in but there's this voice in the back of my head nagging me about the issue above and I might need it again in the near future. I realize this is almost certainly possible via the terminal or other tools but I wanted visual confirmation while working (neither am I good at working with the terminal, but I'll learn - don't really want to look into vi/m atm either). Having a list representing that many open files, rather than tabs, and the text factories felt like nice additions as well. On a colleague's computer BBEdit opened all files without a hinch whereas TextMate on mine choked on them (granted, the files were in Japanese and TextMate's support wasn't/isn't the best.). Would any of you BBEdit veterans say that BBEdit is still (?) the goto editor for "text crunching"?Ī few years ago I needed to open some 430+ files simultaneously to execute a few simple sortings, no of occurrences of specific patterns etc as a batch operation and then have it spit out a results file. That's the biggest endorsement I can give. Nostalgia is great, but this app doesn't belong in a museum-it belongs in my Dock. I'd raise a glass, but since BBEdit's still a year shy of legal drinking age in most states, I'll say only this: I wrote this article in BBEdit, and I'll be writing the next one in BBEdit, too. So on the occasion of BBEdit's 20th birthday, here's a toast to the distinguished old gentleman text-editor. ![]() ![]() Now at version 10.1.1, BBEdit is sold in the Mac App Store for $50, much cheaper than it was during the early commercial era. BBEdit has grown and adapted over time, going from free to commercial, spawning a free "Lite" version that eventually became the free text editor TextWrangler. (I count two others: DragThing and Default Folder). Almost none of the other apps I used in 1997 are on my hard drive today. And not just as a relic of the old times, but as a modern, relevant text editor. All of this would be an insane nostalgia trip were it not for this amazing fact: BBEdit's still around. ![]()
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