Almost every developer that uses a Mac practically worships TextMate. Why? What extraordinary features does it have that other text editors and IDEs don't? I did a quick search and the only really useful feature that I found that most other editors lack is the column selection option, but I wouldn't use a certain editor just for that. What makes TextMate so amazing?
asked Jun 20, 2009 at 21:17
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4If you're a fan of IDEs you might not like it. If you're the type of person who has a UNIX shell open at all times, you might like it. And you can extend Textmate in any language you want, not just somethings specific to the editor (Vimscript or Emacs Lisp for example)– gunsCommented Jun 20, 2009 at 21:34
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@guns - vim can be extended with python, ruby, ... several others, FYI.– RookCommented Jun 20, 2009 at 21:36
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8 Answers
TextMate was the first app I bought when I switched to the Mac a few years ago.
The features I like most are:
- bundle support
- clean UI
- project support
- shell integration
- fast for small files (fast startup time)
- HTMLTidy built in
- CSS and XHTML validation integrated (needs online connection)
but it also has some drawbacks:
- slow for big files
- lack of updates (for some time now, but TextMate 2.0 seems to be alive)
answered Jun 20, 2009 at 21:24
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Lack of binary file support, lack of showing byte size of selection in status bar, lack of search result list etc. All the features that we are used to use in UltraEdit in Windows. There is UE for mac, but it is not yet comparable (slowness, cursor problems) to Windows version. Commented Mar 14, 2013 at 10:55
The main selling point is the ability to extend the UI using bundles, which are basically just shell scripts. It is also fairly lightweight.
I think the appeal of TextMate is that its not bloated ... its has just the right mix of text editing / IDE features, implemented in just the right way :)
answered Jun 23, 2009 at 7:02
A lot of editors have column selections (although in a lot of them its buried deep down). The actual fact TextMate is liked is it's bundle system, which makes some repetitive programming tasks much easier. It's not considered a replacement for languages that have IDE-s with "intellisense" support (Java, C#, etc.), but it's really useful if you want to create programs in a scripting language like ruby or python.
TextMate is very powerful and at the same time usable, intuitive, elegant and lightweight.
On the other hand e.g. the two most popular Unix editors Emacs and Vi(m) are both very powerful but IMHO(!) their usability is not up to todays standards. (I use all three of them but think TextMate is by far the best.)
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So you'd say it has more in common with Emacs and Vim than, say, Notepad++ or Komodo Edit? Or is it right in the middle? Commented Jul 5, 2009 at 20:14
I've been trying to use TextMate as a replacement for Emacs. So far I'm not sold, though I like projects, simpler/cleaner UI, and the idea that it's extensible using python, etc. (I've never mastered elisp).
Things I don't like [in comparison to Emacs]:
- no ability to swap point/mark or return to previous marks.
- movement keys don't automatically take you out of inline search.
- tags not so great (ex: no symbols can be found in java files without classes).
- completion only searches current file.
- NOT OPEN SOURCE.
Okay, I still want to give it a fair shot, but mostly I'm just missing Emacs' superior functionality and feeling increasingly forgiving of its challenging UI and more willing to try to learn elisp for real. Even for projects, using emacs desktop-save in a project folder can accomplish nearly the same thing.
-taranaki
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It's pretty hard to find any editor of similar sophistication like emacs - IF you're really into it. I needed years to get into elisp, emacs extensions and stuff ;). Textmate is faster, but there're no interactive promts (python shell, ruby, fsi) and there's no auctex (inline math rendering preview...) I wouldn't dare to compare emacs to some young editor like Textmate ;).– wishiCommented Nov 9, 2009 at 21:48
Textmate basically has all the power of <insert your favorite unix editor here> with a nice Mac OS X UI wrapped around it and a great plugin system using bundles, of which hundreds are available and most are either good or awesome.
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It "basically has all the power of" what? I think you left something out. :P Commented Nov 9, 2009 at 23:20
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whoops, I never noticed the editor cutting that par, edited accordingly– KrisCommented Nov 10, 2009 at 16:07
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