Comparison of JavaScript-based source code editors

Last updated

This article provides basic feature comparison between some of the JavaScript-based source code editors available today.

Contents

Overview

List of source code editors
EditorSiteLatest versionStyle, clone ofCost (US$) Software license Open source Browser supportActivity
Ace Home, demo v1.4.12, 2020-7Sublime Text / Microsoft Visual StudioFree New BSD License Yes Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+Yes
Atom Home v1.50.0-beta0, 2020-07-14Emacs, Vim and othersFreeDualYesChromeNo
CodeMirror Home, demo 5.59.1, 2020-12-31plain textareaFree MIT-like Yes Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+ [1] Yes
CodeJar Home, demo 1.0.2, 2020-04-05plain textareaFree MIT Yes Firefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+Yes
Codeanywhere Home 6.0SublimeText-Public CloudNoFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+Yes
Codenvy Editor Home 2.10.17, 2014-01-17Eclipse-Public CloudYesFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+Yes
Orion Home 22.0, 2020-04-03.Eclipse SWT StyledText, regular textareaFreedual-licensed: BSD 3-clause and EPL Yes Firefox 37+, Chrome 40+, Safari7+, Internet Explorer 11+ [2] No
Monaco (Visual Studio Code) Home, demo 0.31.1, 2021-12-14 Visual Studio Code FreeMIT Yes IE8+, Firefox 4+, ChromeYes
Markitup Home, demo 1.1.14, 2013-02-04 Markup editor, no syntax highlightFreeMIT, GPLYesIE 6 & 7, Firefox 2 & 3, Safari 3.1, Opera 9+ [3] No
LDT Home 2012-02-19regular textareaFreeMIT, GPL Yes Firefox 3.6+, IE8, Chromium 16, Midori 4.1, Opera 11, EpiphanyNo
Ymacs Home Archived 2011-02-10 at the Wayback Machine , demo Archived 2011-03-01 at the Wayback Machine 0.5, 2012-03-28EmacsFreeBSD Yes Firefox, Chrome, SafariNo
CodePress Home 0.9.6, 2007-09-26 Microsoft Visual Studio FreeLGPLYes ?No
CodeTextArea Home, demo 2009-06Microsoft Visual StudioFree BSD Yes Dojo widgetNo
EditArea Home, demo 0.8.2, 2010-01-14Microsoft Visual StudioFreeLGPLYesIE 6+, Firefox 1.5+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+, Chrome [4] No
Helene Home, demo 0.9, unknown release dateMicrosoft Visual StudioFreeGPLYesNo
9ne Home  ?EmacsFreeGPLYesNo
jsvi Home Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine  ? vi FreeGPLYesNo
MDK-Editor Home 2.10, 2008Microsoft Visual StudioDepends on useDualCode is readabletested to work on: IE 6, 7 - Firefox 2, 3 - ChromeNo
Micro Home 2013nanoFreeGPLYesNo
HirenJS Code Editor Home

Demo

2023-05plain textareaFree MIT Yes Firefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+Yes

List of features

Feature testing was performed with Firefox 3.0.6 against the current demo version, and results may not match those in other browsers or downloadable versions.

List of source code editor features
Feature Ace CodeMirror CodeJar Orion CodePress CodeTextArea EditArea Helene markItUp! MDK-Editor Monaco Editor (Visual Studio Code)
Implementationnestable full parserspattern-based parserpattern-based parserparsers
Syntax highlightOver 110 languages 129 languages Yesmixed mode: HTML + JavaScript and CSS, PHP, EJS; single mode: JavaScript, Java, JSON, CSS, Python, Ruby, XML, YAML (pluggable)limited mixed mode: HTML + JavaScript (no CSS), PHP + HTML (no JavaScript or CSS), Java, Perl, SQLonly keywords only one language at a time: Perl, PHP, CSS, Javascript, Python, HTML, XML, VB, C, CPP, SQL, Pascal, Basic, Brainf*ckPHPNomixed mode: PHP + HTML + JavaScript + CSS, single-mode: PHP, Javascript, CSS, XML; extensibleHundreds of languages
Syntax checkingHTML, CSS, JavaScript (using JSHint)SomeNoJavaScript (using JSLint)NoNoHTML, JavaScript (using JSLint)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript
Tab supportYesYesYesYesSomeYesYesYes
Indent, new line keeps leveloptional setting that is on by defaultYesYesYesvery limitedNoYesN/A (can't press Enter)NoYesYes
Indent, syntaxYesYesYesYesNoNoNo
Indent, selected blockyes, including Shift+Tabeither automatically, or block-level indent/unindentYesyes, including Shift+TabNoyes, including Shift+Tabyes, including Shift+Tab and using context menuyes, including Shift+Tab
Bracket matchingYesYesNoYesan implementation exists with mouse-hover bracket matching [ citation needed ]Ctrl+B; no angle bracket matchingNomatching bracket ([{<>}]) always highlightedYes
XML matching tag highlightYesYesNoNoNoYesYes
Code folding YesYes [5] NoSome [6] NoNoNoNoNoNoYes
Code snippetsYesthrough API/add-onSometype 'for' or 'if' then TabNoYesNoYesJavaScript
Code suggestionYes example Yes through esprima content assist plugin Noyes[ citation needed ]NoCSS, HTML, JavaScript)Yes
Toggle syntax highlight on/offYesYesNo last example in demo N/Atextmode
Keyboard shortcuts All Common Shortcuts & Custom Keybindings fully configurableYessome common used: Ctrl+f, Ctrl+g,Ctrl+z,Ctrl+yYesAll key combos (except F1 in IE7) can be bound to shortcutsYes
Line numbersYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNosupports mouse selectionYes
Search & replaceregex supported via API NoYesNotoolbar buttonhas API for the studioYes
Spell checking addon for context menuNoNoNobrowser-basednonebrowser-basednonebrowser-basedNo
ToolbarBut command line consoleNoNoNoNoYesNoYesNo
Visual styling Fully theme-able CSS-based themesYesYesfont-type and font-size5 styles to choose from, having 2 font-sizesYes
Undo/RedoYesYesYesYesYesYes Differential Undo Yes
Multiple cursors / Block selectionMultiple cursorsYesNoYesNoNoNoNoNoNo
IndentGuidesYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
Inline widgetsYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo
Non US charset supportYesYesYesYesNo
Diff editorYes

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Netscape Communicator</span> Discontinued Internet software suite

Netscape Communicator is a discontinued Internet suite produced by Netscape Communications Corporation, and was the fourth major release in the Netscape line of browsers. It was first in beta in 1996 and was released in June 1997. Netscape Communicator addressed the problem of Netscape Navigator 3.x being used as both the name of the suite and the browser contained within it by renaming the suite to Netscape Communicator. It included more groupware features intended to appeal to enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WorldWideWeb</span> First web browser, later renamed Nexus

WorldWideWeb is the first web browser and web page editor. It was discontinued in 1994. It was the first WYSIWYG HTML editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KDevelop</span> Integrated development environment

KDevelop is a free and open-source integrated development environment (IDE) for Unix-like computer operating systems and Windows. It provides editing, navigation and debugging features for several programming languages, and integration with build automation and version-control systems, using a plugin-based architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xfig</span> Vector graphics editor for UNIX-like systems

Xfig is a free and open-source vector graphics editor which runs under the X Window System on most UNIX-compatible platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tab (interface)</span> Interface component

In interface design, a tab is a graphical user interface object that allows multiple documents or panels to be contained within a single window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching between sets of documents. It is an interface style most commonly associated with web browsers, web applications, text editors, and preference panels, with window managers and tiling window managers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NetSurf</span> Web browser

NetSurf is an open-source web browser which uses its own layout engine. Its design goal is to be lightweight and portable. NetSurf provides features including tabbed browsing, bookmarks and page thumbnailing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mozilla Application Suite</span> Discontinued Internet suite

The Mozilla Application Suite is a discontinued cross-platform integrated Internet suite. Its development was initiated by Netscape Communications Corporation, before their acquisition by AOL. It was based on the source code of Netscape Communicator. The development was spearheaded by the Mozilla Organization from 1998 to 2003, and by the Mozilla Foundation from 2003 to 2006.

Raster graphics editors can be compared by many variables, including availability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Komodo Edit</span> Text editor for dynamic programming languages

Komodo Edit is a free and open source text editor for dynamic programming languages. It was introduced in January 2007 to complement ActiveState's commercial Komodo IDE. As of version 4.3, Komodo Edit is built atop the Open Komodo project. Komodo IDE is no longer supported and maintained by developers for Python.

Free Download Manager is a download manager for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TinyMCE</span> Online rich-text editor

TinyMCE is an online rich-text editor released as open-source software under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. It converts HTML textarea fields, or other designated HTML elements, into editor instances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CodeLite</span> Integrated development environment

CodeLite is a free and open-source IDE for the C, C++, PHP, and JavaScript (Node.js) programming languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ELinks</span> Text-based web browser

ELinks is a free text-based web browser for Linux, DOS, and Windows operating systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Classilla</span> Internet Browser for Power Macintoshes

Classilla is a Gecko-based Internet suite for PowerPC-based classic Macintosh operating systems, essentially an updated descendant of the defunct Mozilla Application Suite by way of the Mac OS port maintained in the aborted WaMCom project. The name is a portmanteau of Classic, and Mozilla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brackets (text editor)</span> Editor for web development

Brackets is a source code editor with a primary focus on web development. Created by Adobe Inc., it is free and open-source software licensed under the MIT License, and is currently maintained on GitHub by open-source developers. It is written in JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Brackets is cross-platform, available for macOS, Windows, and most Linux distributions. The main purpose of Brackets is its live HTML, CSS and JavaScript editing functionality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VP9</span> Open and royalty-free video coding format released by Google in 2013

VP9 is an open and royalty-free video coding format developed by Google.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CodeMirror</span> JavaScript component that provides a code editor in the browser

CodeMirror is a JavaScript component that provides a code editor in the browser. It has a rich programming API and a focus on extensibility.

asm.js is a subset of JavaScript designed to allow computer software written in languages such as C to be run as web applications while maintaining performance characteristics considerably better than standard JavaScript, which is the typical language used for such applications.

Media Source Extensions (MSE) is a W3C specification that allows JavaScript to send byte streams to media codecs within web browsers that support HTML video and audio. Among other possible uses, this allows the implementation of client-side prefetching and buffering code for streaming media entirely in JavaScript. It is compatible with, but should not be confused with, the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) specification, and neither requires the use of the other, although many EME implementations are only capable of decrypting media data provided via MSE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual Studio Code</span> Source code editor developed by Microsoft

Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor developed by Microsoft for Windows, Linux, macOS and web browsers. Features include support for debugging, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, code refactoring, and embedded version control with Git. Users can change the theme, keyboard shortcuts, preferences, and install extensions that add functionality.

References

  1. CodeMirror supported browsers
  2. Orion supported browsers
  3. "markItUp! Universal Markup jQuery Editor". Markitup.jaysalvat.com. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
  4. EditArea compatibility chart
  5. "Code Folding Demo". CodeMirror. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
  6. "Orion 0.3 M2 – New and Noteworthy | Orion News". Planetorion.org. 2011-09-26. Retrieved 2013-06-14.