Is there a way to find the ideal IDE for web development?
As I have been a developer for two years now I am using Visual Studio Code to develop. At the school where I do the study Communication & Multimedia Design. Most of the time this IDE will be used when developing. The teachers always told us that the Visual Studio Code was the ideal and easiest IDE for your school time. This mainly was because most of the teachers use this IDE themselves.
For the people that don’t know what an IDE(Integrated Development Environment) is. This is software that consolidates the basic needs for software testing and development. Without an IDE, a developer would need to manage all the tools separately, but the IDE brings all of this together as a single framework. There are also single text editors that are being used like nodepad++, but these editors have no extra features like IDE’s have. So an IDE is there to make the life of a developer easier.
For the remainder of the article, I want to get into a couple of different code editors and give some more information about them and show what the pros and cons are. With this information, you can figure out what code editor fits your coding style.
Visual studio code IDE
This is possibly one of the best Javascript IDE’s for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It does not only support Javascript, but it also supports Node.js, TypeScript, and it comes with a lot of extensions for other languages like C++, C#, Python, PHP, etc.
It has excellent syntax highlighting and IntelliSense auto-complete for variable types, function definitions, and imported modules. In the integrated debug option, you can use breakpoints, call stacks, and an interactive console.
There are also more unique features that visual studio code uses. I will explain the main features more comprehensively.
1. Meet IntelliSense.
IntelliSense is a code completion tool that is built into visual studio code. It has various features including code completion, parameter info, quick info, and member lists. This feature will assist you whenever you are writing code. IntelliSense will support a lot of programming languages and will help with word-based completion for any programming language.
2. Debug code.
Visual studio code’s excellent debugging support is one of the most appealing functions. The built-in debugger in VS Code speeds up the editing, compiling, and debugging process.
3. Git commands built-in.
Visual studio code has an integrated source control management. This includes Git support. You will be able to make commits, pull requests, and a lot more through this build-in extension.
4. Extensible and customizable.
Do you need more features in your IDE? Visual studio code has a unique library with extensions for new languages, themes, debuggers, and to connect to additional services. Just name it and they probably have it.
Pros of visual studio code
- It’s a lightweight code editor
- Helpful for quick script modification
- Github integration
- It is free!
Cons of visual studio code
- Clearer customization of the UI
- Start-up time is slow
- Short-cuts have a learning curve
Brackets IDE
Brackets is a modern text editor that is both light and strong. We integrated visual resources into the editor to provide just the right amount of assistance when you need it without interfering with your creative process in the meantime.
If you are looking for an editor who understands web design, Brackets will be the best IDE. This web development IDE is open source and completely free of charge. Next to this, they also have a big and passionate community where you can ask all your questions.
On September 1, 2021, Adobe will end support for Brackets. If you would like to continue using, maintaining, and improving Brackets, you may fork the project on GitHub. Through Adobe’s partnership with Microsoft, we encourage users to migrate to Visual Studio Code, Microsoft’s free code editor built on open source.
There are also more unique features that Brackets uses. I will explain the main features more comprehensively.
Inline Editors
Instead of switching between file tabs, you can simply open a window into the code you’re interested in.
Live Preview
allows you to establish a real-time link with your browser; any changes you make to HTML and CSS are instantly visible on the screen.
Preprocessor Support
allows you to use Fast Edit and Live Highlight for your LESS and SCSS files, making them far easier to work with than before.
Pros of Brackets
- The live preview is an amazing feature
- Intellisense for the many languages is available.
- Simple user interface
Cons of Brackets
- Hard to manage big projects
- Does not have many themes
- Stops with existing from 1 Sept 2021
Webstorm IDE
When you need to build something in JavaScript, Webstorm is another great choice. JetBrains created a well-known IDE creator, and it’s available alongside other products for languages other than JavaScript.
The only part about this IDE is that it will not be free. The price starts from 59 euros per year for an individual user and 129 euros per year for companies. However, don’t miss it just yet because it’s behind a paywall. After all, this program could be worthwhile. Not least because of its outstanding JavaScript IDE debugger features.
Debugger
Put breakpoints right in the source code, explore the call stack and variables, set watches, and use the interactive console to debug the client-side and Node.js apps with ease in the IDE.
Seamless tool integration
Use the IDE’s linters, construct software, test runners, REST client, and other tools, which are all deeply integrated. However, you can use Terminal as an IDE tool window whenever you need it.
Unit testing
run and debug tests with Karma, Mocha, Protractor, and Jest. Test statuses are immediately visible in the editor or in a convenient tree view from which you can easily leap to the test.
Integration with VCS
To function with Git, GitHub, Mercurial, and other VCS use a simple unified UI. With a visual diff/merge tool built right into the IDE, you can commit files, review changes, and settle conflicts.
Pros of Webstorm
- As the product of the JetBean, the UI is very familiar to the famous IntelliJ.
- A large source of plugins
- Customizable interface and beautiful UI.
Cons of Webstorm
- Need a good computer to handle the program.
- It’s not free
- IDE becomes slow when we are working on projects with a large number of files.
Conclusion
As a developer, you always need to think about your work environment. This is something you need to decide on your own. There will be no guide in what IDE is the best or you should pick above the other one. I have listed some pros and cons for the three IDE’s I have experience with, so now it is your own choice to pick the one you like. Every pick I talked about has unique features that make them amazing! Good luck with programming! PEACE! ✌
