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Aptana IDE. The Dreamweaver killer... for XHTML/CSS!!
Tuesday, 15 August 2006
aptana One of the best code editors I've seen in a while is Aptana, "a robust, JavaScript-focused IDE for building dynamic web applications".

Although "JavaScript-focused", Aptana delivers a familiar interface (for those used to Dreamweaver) and handles pretty well (X)HTML and CSS files. And did I mention it's free?

Highlights include the following features (taken from the official website):
  1. Code Assist on JavaScript, HTML, and CSS languages, including your own JavaScript functions
  2. Outliner that gives a snapshot view of your JavaScript, HTML, and CSS code structure
  3. Error and warning notification for your code
  4. Support for Aptana UI customization and extensions
  5. Cross-platform support (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  6. Free and open source licensed under the Eclipse Public License, v1.0
Aptana is great for writing semantic (X)HTML/CSS and the code assist feature is better than Dreamweaver's. In particularly, the editor tells you what HTML tags ot CSS attributes apply to either IE or FF!! This can be very helpful when designing/integrating a template in Joomla. And the features go on...

Check out a detailed review on "HTML Editor Reviews" from which I copy/paste the following excerpt:

What I Like
  • This is the first time I’ve liked the look and speed of a Java-based editor. The developers have done an excellent job with the GUI, and on my Windows XP laptop, Aptana is pretty zippy.
  • Tabbed, multi-document interface with draggable tabs. Now I can reorder open files to my heart’s content. I don’t know why more editors don’t have this.
  • The outline sidebar. Gives you a graphical outline of your current document.
  • Project sidebar. Create definable projects.
  • Code hinting and code completion for HTML, CSS, and Javascript! And it “feels” right — very smooth and responsive.
  • Auto-pairing of quotes and brackets. Also highlights brackets and quotes when your cursor is in between them.
  • I’m using the Windows version, but there are also versions for OS X and Linux.
  • So far, it’s free.
  • Great website: easy to navigate, lots of info, screenshots, screencasts, forum, wiki.
Gripes
  • No PHP (server-side language) support at this time.
Aptana is great for newbies getting to grips with CSS based design, because it offers a lot of features that even commercial editors don't! And that is what makes it stand out from the crowd.

It may lack support for PHP (for now) and a good search feature (the strength of Dreamweaver!), but I'd definitely recommend it to anyone.

Try it out and see for yourself!
Last Updated ( Sunday, 07 January 2007 )

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