freeCodeCamp/guide/english/tools/source-code-editors/index.md

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title: Source Code Editors
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##Source Code Editors

Source code editors are the programs that allow for code creation and  
editing. Any text editor can be used to write code. But dedicated code  
editors offer many useful features, including: text completion,  
markup coloring, and tabs/panes for side-by-side editing. These features can  
be useful even to new users who don't know their way around all of the  
advanced options.

There are many, many editors available to download or use  
online, both paid and free. They offer many of the same core-features, but  
each have their own subtleties. Further research may help find the one that's  
right for you. The following editors are all cross-platform and  
free to use or evaluate.

## <a href='https://www.sublimetext.com/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Sublime Text</a> ![Sublime Text Icon](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/1/1249e18855b9c9ef177e636e6c4e308b4877bf2d.png)

![Sublime Text Screenshot](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/6/63f774c31a7b1a439bcef9d11e95463b6998310e.png)

Sublime Text is a very popular editor that has been around <a href='https://www.sublimetext.com/blog/articles/one-point-oh' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>since 2008</a>. There  
are many options and <a href='https://packagecontrol.io/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>extensions</a> available,  
and a lot of <a href='http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=sublime+text' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>help available</a>  
online to help  
<a href='http://www.websightdesigns.com/wiki/Setting_up_Sublime_Text_3' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>set it up</a>.  
(The license for continued use costs $70\. However, Sublime Text is free to  
download and evaluate, with a nag-screen pop-up.)

## <a href='http://brackets.io/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Brackets</a> ![Brackets Icon](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/d/df30640741461569071875cf4ff6cad9924f8b32.png)

![Brackets Screenshot](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/2/2f395a58d24ed551ed8440a10ae640777f1143b6.png)

Brackets is a relatively new open-source editor by Adobe. It is very user  
friendly, especially for people who aren't used to command-line interfaces  
or JSON-style settings/prefereces. Extensions and themes are quick and easy  
to find and install through the Extension Manager.

## <a href='https://atom.io/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Atom</a> ![Atom Icon](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/7/7f6ba67d0ea310e1c1024f83c9acc1e0ecf255a8.png)

![Atom Screenshot](//discourse-user-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/original/2X/8/8016e7c0937e8ce6fcb6104c9aee0026443912f5.png)

Atom is an <a href='https://github.com/atom/atom' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>open source</a> editor, developed  
by <a href='https://github.com/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>GitHub</a>. Like Sublime Text, Atom is quite popular.  
It is very configurable ("hackable", as they say) but advanced features may  
be overwhelming to new users. There is also plenty of <a href='http://readwrite.com/2014/05/20/github-atom-5-tips-getting-started-tutorial-corey-johnson/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>helpful</a> <a href='http://flight-manual.atom.io/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>documentation</a>  

<a href='http://stackoverflow.com/search?q=atom' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>availble</a> online.


## <a href='https://code.visualstudio.com/' target='_blank' rel='nofollow'>Visual Studio Code</a> ![Visual Studio Code Icon](https://i.imgur.com/b4vFsKa.png)

![Visual Studio Code Screenshot](https://code.visualstudio.com/home/home-screenshot-mac-lg.png)

Visual Studio Code is a source code editor developed by Microsoft in 2015, and is now one of the most known code editors for web development. 
It supports many programming languages, and like the others you can download plugins or extensions to make it more configurable for your coding style.
Its main features are:
*   IntelliSense - For syntax highlighting, autocomplete, functions definitions and smart complete.
*   Debugging - Be able to debug using break points, call stacks and an interactive console.
*   Build-in Git - Review diffs, stage files, make commits, push and pull, all available in the editor.
*   Extensions - Install extensions to add new languages, themes, debuggers, and connect additional services.