What is a Text Editor?
A text editor is a tool that programmers use to write and edit code. Think of it as a specialized version of a word processor like Microsoft Word, but designed specifically for coding. Text editors help format your code, highlight errors, and sometimes even provide helpful shortcuts or extensions.
Do You Need to Install a Text Editor?
Strictly speaking, no. It's possible to modify files using your Command Line Terminal, and Mac, Windows and Linux all have built in text editors.
In fact, the Microsoft Word analogy is no joke. Check out this video where Joma Tech uses Word to code!
Please, don't do this. It would genuiunely suck so much to do this
Do You Want to Install a Text Editor?
Absolutely yes you do. A good text editor will make your life so much easier, providing tools for writing, understanding, and even debugging your code.
Popular Text Editors
There are many text editors out there, but some of the most popular ones include:
- Visual Studio Code
- Sublime Text
- Atom
- Vim
- Emacs
My Personal Recommendation: VS Code
Visual Studio Code is a free, open-source text editor developed by Microsoft. It's lightweight, fast, and has a ton of features that make coding a breeze. Plus, it's highly customizable with themes and extensions to suit your needs.
Installing VS Code:
Mac Installation:
- Go to the Visual Studio Code website
- Click on the download button for macOS.
- Open the downloaded .zip file and drag the `Visual Studio Code` app to your `Applications` folder.
- Launch the app from your Applications folder and start exploring the interface.
Windows Installation:
- Go to the Visual Studio Code website
- Click on the download button for Windows.
- Once downloaded, open the installer and follow the instructions on screen.
- After installation, launch VS Code and familiarize yourself with the interface.
Linux Installation:
For Linux users, follow the installation instructions provided on the official VS Code website for your specific distribution (Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat, etc.).