Your code editor is your main development tool; you use it to write and save lines of code. Write better code faster by learning your editor's shortcuts and installing key plugins.
TL;DR
- Choose an editor that lets you customize shortcuts and has lots of plugins to help you write better code.
- Make use of the package manager to make it easier to discover, install, and update plugins.
- Install plugins that help keep you productive during development; start with the recommendations in this guide.
Install Sublime text editor
Sublime is a great editor with a solid base level of functionality which makes writing code a pleasure. You can install a package manager that makes it easy to install plugins and add new functionality.
There are currently two download options for Sublime Text, either version 2 or version 3. Version 3 is pretty stable and will give you access to packages not available in Sublime Text 2, however you may find version 2 more reliable.
Note
- Rob Dodson's blog post on how to get to know and love Sublime is a great reference for getting the most out of your editor. The concepts are relevant to any text editor, not just Sublime.
Why use a package manager?
Package managers make it easy to find, install, and keep packages & plugins up-to-date.
You can install a Package Manager for Sublime by following these instructionshttps://sublime.wbond.net/installation.
You only need to do this once, after which see below for our recommended list of plugins.
Install plugins
Plugins help you stay more productive. What are the things you keep having to go back out to other tools to do?
Linting - there’s a plugin for that. Showing what changes haven’t been committed - there are plugins for that. Integration with other tools, such as GitHub, there are plugins for that.
Package managers make it very easy to find, install, and update plugins:
- In the Sublime Text editor, open your package manager (ctrl+shift+p).
- Enter ‘Install Package’.
- Enter the name of the plugin you are looking for (or else browse all plugins).
Check out these trending lists of Sublime Text plugins. Here are the plugins we love and recommend you install because they help you speed up your development:
Autoprefixer
If you want a quick way to add vendor prefixes to your CSS, you can do so with this handy plugin.
Write CSS, ignoring vendor prefixes and when you want to add them, hit ctrl+shift+p and typeAutoprefix
CSS.
We cover how you can automate this in your build process, that way your CSS stays lean and you don’t need to remember to hit ctrl+shift+p.
ColorPicker
Pick any color from the palette and add it to your CSS with ctrl+shift+c.
Emmet
Add some useful keyboard shortcuts and snippets to your text editor. Check out the video on Emmet.io for an intro into what it can do (a personal favorite is the ‘Toggle Comment’ command).
HTML-CSS-JS prettify
This extension gives you a command to format your HTML, CSS and JS. You can even prettify your files whenever your save a file.
Git Gutter
Add a marker in the gutter wherever there is a change made to a file.
Gutter Color
Note: This is only available in Sublime Text 3
Gutter Color shows you a small color sample next to your CSS.
The plugin requires ImageMagick. If you are on Mac OS X, we recommend trying the installer fromCactusLabs (you may need to restart your machine to get it working).