Text editors may seem uninteresting to some, but they are essential to the survival of numerous organizations around the world. From development teams to publishing, editors are used in nearly every workflow. Many of us go in and out of them throughout the day. Both free and paid versions of Linux text editors are available to make the coding and development process easier.
Some text editors are more suited to established coders, while others are better suited to beginners or writers. In this blog, we’ll go through the most popular text editor options available.
What is a Text Editor in Linux?
Individuals use text editors to code and modify HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and a variety of other programming languages. Many of their features simplify programming with fewer errors, such as syntax highlighting, simple navigation, configurable interfaces, search and replace options, etc. In Linux, there are two types of text editors:
Command-line text editors: These types of text editors allow users to enter the editor from the command line. This will come in handy for system administrators when modifying configuration files.
Graphical user interface (GUI) text editors: Although this sort of text editor has a graphical user interface, it cannot be used from the command line.
12 Best Linux Text Editors for Programming & Coding
1. Sublime Text
It is one of the most popular and lightweight tools that makes it easier for developers to work with codes, yet while being lightweight, it has a lot of features to offer. It was primarily designed with a Python API for the developers that spend their day coding. Sublime Text has the benefit of being incredibly lightweight, resulting in less resource usage while retaining some of the more complex capabilities you’d expect from a top text editor.
Sublime Text’s main advantage is that it provides shortcuts and search capabilities for quickly locating functions and making changes to numerous lines at once. It simply takes a few seconds to jump to certain symbols or phrases. Furthermore, Sublime Text produces an index of all functions and methods automatically so that you may work with shortcuts and modify it for finding code parts while working.
- Sublime Text allows you to try out the text editor before making a purchase through its free version.
- The text editor is compatible with a variety of operating systems, including Mac, Windows, and Linux.
- It allows individuals to use one license on all of their devices.
- Split editing in Sublime Text allows you to manage and edit files next to one other.
- The Python API makes it possible to enhance Sublime Text using plugins that you or others have built.
- Sublime Text offers a lot of effective and easy-to-use shortcuts.
- Sublime Text also allows you to modify almost everything. This is true when it comes to menus and shortcuts.
Installation
Sublime Text editor may be installed in Linux systems via the default package manager, as mentioned below:
For installing on Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint:
$ sudo apt install sublime-text
Installing on RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora:
$ sudo dnf install sublime-text
For Arch Linux and Manjaro:
$ sudo pacman -S sublime-text
2. Atom
Atom is a GitHub-developed free and open-source text editor. It is created using web technologies, based on Electron (CoffeeScript, JS, Less, HTML). It’s a sophisticated text editor that is often referred to as the text editor of the twenty-first century. Some of Atom’s key features are cross-platform editing, built-in package management, a file system browser, multiple pane support, a find and replace function, and intelligent auto-completion.
You may add new features to Atom by choosing from thousands of open source packages. It’s also adaptable to your requirements and preferences.
- Atom is a popular open-source text editor with a huge development community. This will enable users to get regular updates as well as new themes and bundles.
- It’s a platform-agnostic solution that runs on all the popular Operating Systems.
- It offers lots of features an individual has to work on projects collaboratively. Everything may be edited and created in real-time.
- Atom has a GitHub package that allows you to integrate and conduct tasks such as pulling requests and merging conflicts.
- From the text editor, you may look for new packages and themes.
- With intelligent automatic code completion, a file system explorer, and a search and replace feature, editing the code becomes a cakewalk.
- Atom has several windows for side-by-side code comparison and editing.
Installation
On Debian, Ubuntu & Mint:
$ wget -c https://atom.io/download/deb -O atom.deb
$ sudo dpkg -i atom.deb
On RHEL, CentOS & Fedora:
$ wget -c https://atom.io/download/rpm -O atom.rpm
$ sudo rpm -i atom.rpm
3. Notepad++
Notepad++, without a doubt, is one of the most popular advanced Linux text editors in the market that comes in a small package without any fees and extensive editing features. It is distributed under a GNU (General Public License), which means that any developer or content producer can use the text editor immediately after downloading it.
Notepad++ is a text editor for Microsoft Windows that tries to consume less processing power than the typical text editors. One of the features that distinguish Notepad++ from other text editors is that it has been translated into 80+ languages, making it accessible to a wider audience all around the world.
- Anyone can use Notepad++ because it is entirely free.
- Notepad++ is translated into multiple languages, and it comes with the documentation that enables users to add native additional languages
- A multi-view editor with syntax highlighting and folding is included.
- It has customization tools that are simple to use and strong enough for even the most experienced developers.
- Its auto-completion feature ensures that you don’t have to put in functions, arguments, or words over and over again.
- It has a multi-document interface that allows you to navigate between tabs and manage numerous projects at the same time.
- Notepad++ comes with a number of plugins that may be used to enhance the text editor’s capabilities or combine it with other apps.
- It comes with a search option for rapidly finding functionality in huge texts.
Installation
Notepad++ editor can be installed in Linux systems via snap package manage by running the following command:
$ sudo snap install notepad-plus-plus
4. Vim
The Vim text editor is a robust, dependable editor that interacts with various popular tools and is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac. It may be used as a stand-alone application in a GUI or via a CLI. Vim is a text editor that was created in 1991. In the past, it was a widely used text editor used by programmers to produce scripts and updates.
Even after being one of the oldest editors, it has kept on evolving over the years and is still loved by developers all around the world. Vim is one of the more sophisticated text editors on our list and it also implies that it is the most user-friendly. Vim has a steep learning curve and needs a desire to immerse oneself in a completely new feature set that may differ from that of other text editors.
- Vim has a mechanism that is helpful to those who like to use plugins to enhance the text editor.
- It has a huge online community of experts that helps new and even old users to learn about the latest extensions, scripts, hints, and tools.
- It’s entirely free, and it’s an open-source solution that gets frequent upgrades.
- It’s also one of the most popular text editors on the market, with some of the most advanced features and a large user base.
- Vim may be integrated with a variety of tools that you already use for business or design.
- Vim supports hundreds of languages as well as a variety of file formats, so it doesn’t matter what programming language you’re using.
- Because Vim is open-source and has a growing community, you may ask for new features and have a meaningful effect on the text editor’s future development.
Installation
You may use your default package manager to install the gVim editor on Linux computers. Execute the following command:
Installing Vim on Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint:
$ sudo apt install vim-gtk3
Execute the following code for installing on RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora:
$ sudo dnf install gvim
For Arch Linux and Manjaro:
$ sudo pacman -S gvim
5. Visual Studio Code
Despite being developed by Microsoft, Visual Studio Code is a text editor that is entirely open-source, with the source code easily available on GitHub. It has around 2.6 million users as of now. VS Code has a sleek UI and is extremely lightweight, and it offers lots of advanced features and optimum performance. In addition, it offers a large library of extensions that provide compatibility for additional languages, commands, debuggers, and other features. This cross-platform tool (Linux, macOS, and Windows) includes TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js support as well.
The Visual Studio Code website contains several sections where you can learn more about the tool. There is a manual page that guides you through the setup process and how to handle different languages. You can also discover all of the Visual Studio Code keyboard shortcuts and learn some tips & techniques. There are a number of great features in Visual Studio Code, such as an integrated blog, a web update site, an extension library, and API details.
- It is a robust text editor that is available free of cost along with open-source access and a huge selection of extensions.
- It has a large user base and online community and provides extensive documentation, a comprehensive blog, and a plethora of information in the form of API and FAQs.
- It has Git commands built-in.
- It comes with an IntelliSense function that significantly improves on the usual autocomplete and syntax highlighting capabilities found in most text editors. Essentially, it generates clever completions depending on variables and function declarations.
- You can debug your code right in the editor if you want to. As a result, debugging print statements is unnecessary.
- This is a cross-platform text editor that works with Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.
Installation
Run the following code for downloading Visual Studio Code on Linux:
sudo apt install code
If you’re using CentOS, Fedora, or OpenSUSE, you can also get the .rpm file from the official Visual Studio Code website.
6. Brackets
This text editor was created originally by Adobe in an effort to provide a more contemporary, open-source alternative for software developers. This is a free text editor that includes some visually attractive capabilities for evaluating your working process and also enables frontend developers to inspect the modifications. Brackets focus on robust coding, and it does so with the aid of inline editors, live previews, and well-organized files.
Brackets is free to use and has a good community. It’s also compatible with popular OS like Mac, Linux, and Windows computers. The user interface is simple, but the text editor offers a lot of options for you to experiment with.
- Brackets come with tons of features, especially given that you don’t have to pay anything and it’s intended primarily for web developers.
- PSD (Photoshop Document) files are integrated to some extent.
- Bracket text editor is directly linked to GitHub and offers extensions that are available to enhance the existing text editor and perhaps change the appearance of your interface
- Brackets is a multi-platform solution that may be used on any OS
- All developers will be allowed to have an eye on their efforts in a more visual manner thanks to the live preview function.
- The inline editors allow you to choose a section of code and launch a window directly in the editor. You won’t need to keep multiple tabs open while working on your project in this manner.
Installation
Brackets editor may be installed in Linux computers using the snap package manager:
$ sudo snap install brackets
7. Gedit
The primary goal of this general-purpose text editor is to make it as easy to use as possible. Gedit has a simple and clean user interface that follows the GNOME project concept. Users can install and use this robust text editor even on Linux.
Gedit was initially released to the public in 2000, and it was written in the C programming language. The internationalized text is fully supported by this open-source and free software. Configurable syntax highlighting is available in Gedit for a variety of programming languages, including C++, C, HTML, Java, XML, Python, Perl, and others.
- Files get opened in tabs for ease in organization and increasing accessibility
- It keeps internationalized text is unrestricted and supports various languages (Python, Shell, C, C++, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, XML, Markdown, and many others) along with syntax highlighting feature
- Offers fonts and colors that can be customized
- Support for printing and printing previews
- Regular expressions are used to search and replace
- Comes with a file browser integrated into the side panel
- Spell-checking, auto-completion of words, and line number along with undo/redo option
- Wrapping text feature.
- Using distant locations to edit files and Back up your files
- Offers a plug-in system that may be used to add additional sophisticated capabilities on the fly.
Installation
It may not come pre-installed on earlier Linux versions. Therefore, use the following command to install gedit:
sudo apt-get install gedit
8. Nano
Nano is an incredibly user-friendly text editor for Unix-like operating systems. Published in June 2000, it emulates the Pico text editor and adds a number of new features. It has a command-line interface that is interactive and easy to use.
Those who enjoy spending days and nights tinkering with configuration files will enjoy Nano. Among the highlights are autoconfiguration support, case-sensitive search, auto-indentation, interactive search and replacement, tab completion, soft text wrapping, and more.
- It is best suited for developers who like to use plugins to enhance the text editor and use it their way
- Its online community is a power-packed knowledge base which is a great way to learn about new extensions, scripts, hints, and tools.
- It’s an entirely free and open-source solution that gets frequent improvements.
- It’s also one of the most popular text editors that have some of the most advanced features and a large user base.
- Nano text editor can be integrated with a variety of tools that you already for ease in processes
- Fonts and colors that can be customized
- Provides search and replace feature for increasing the speed at which an individual works
Installation
Nano editor can be installed in Linux systems using the default package manager:
On Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint:
$ sudo apt install nano
For installing Nano on RHEL, CentOS, and Fedora:
$ sudo dnf install nano
Execute the following command for installing on Arch Linux and Manjaro:
$ sudo pacman -S nano
9. JED
JED is a widely used and very prominent Linux text editor that utilizes the S-Lang library. This cross-platform utility is also available for Unix, VMS, OS/2, BeOS, Windows, OpenVMS, and other systems. You can run JED’s earlier versions if you’re using DOS.
The main advantage of using JOD is its lightweight design, which allows you to use it with ease on systems with minimal resources. Color syntax highlighting, code folding, emulation of editors like Emacs, multiple programming modes, editing TeX files, rectangle cut/paste, and other features of the JED editor are some of its features that make it loved by millions all over the globe.
- Syntax highlighting in color on terminals along with supporting code folding
- All the terminal and platform included in this text editor has drop-down menus
- Emacs, EDT, WordStar, Borland, and Brief are all editors that are emulated
- The editor is extremely configurable because of its extensibility in the C-like language S-Lang
- From within JED’s info browser, you can view Texinfo (GNU info) files.
- C, C++, Fortran, TeX, HTML, sh, Perl, Python, IDL, DCL, and more programming modes (with syntax highlighting) are provided.
- Support for asynchronous subprocesses, which enables compiling from within the editor.
- On the Linux console, it offers built-in support for the GPM mouse driver
- Provides option for both abbreviation and dynamic abbreviation
- 8-bit clean with support for mute/dead keys
Installation
Execute the codes for installing Jed editor in Linux systems:
For installing it on Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint:
$ sudo apt install jed
For CentOS, and Fedora:
$ sudo dnf install jed
For installing the same on Arch Linux and Manjaro:
$ sudo pacman -S jed
10. KWrite
KWrite was originally released to the public in the year 2000, and it has come a long way since then. It is a KDE-developed lightweight text editor based on the KATE text editor and the KDE KParts technology
Word suggestion, automatic identification, syntax rectification, file type highlighting, Vi input mode, and plugin support are among the many features of this popular text editor. KWrite’s extensibility, encoding support, and remote file editing are among its interesting features.
- It’s written in the C++ programming language.
- It is connected with GitHub and enables the use of extensions for enhancing the existing text editor and perhaps change the appearance of your interface
- It can be used on various OS other than Linux as well
- Comes with a preview live function for developers to keep track of their efforts in a more visual manner
- The inline editors allow you to choose a section of code and launch a window directly in the editor. You won’t need to keep multiple tabs open while working on your project in this manner.
Installation
Run the following command for installing Kwrite on your Linux Operating System:
sudo apt-get install kwrite
Conclusion
We hope that the blog will help you to discover the best and reliable Linux Text Editors for Programming & Coding available in the market. They have a simple installation process through several lines of codes. They help in various ways for making the programming and coding process go quick and easy.