Recs.
Updated
SpecsUpdate
Pros
Pro Live preview
Live preview in Brackets gives you the same functionality as if you were running your code in an online service such as http://plnkr.co/. Everything you do in your editor will be updated instantly in your live browser view.
Pro Inline editor
Brackets has an inline editor that revolutionizes your workflow. For example, from your .html file, you can activate the inline editor for any tag/class. From within the HTML document, you can create or make modifications to your CSS file, without actually having to open the CSS file and search for the selector.
Pro Fast searching and function finding
The latest version of Brackets has an amazing instant search feature which can search across all project files in realtime as you type; nothing else comes close to it. Furthermore, there's an awesome feature for large projects and you can also jump to or inline edit any function by doing ctrl-e over the function. You will then get an inline source view of where that function is defined.
Pro Built-in browser live-updating
Brackets will automatically refresh the browser and load the latest saved version of a file open in the browser. This works with php as well. Editing a css will even highlight the tag that's currently being worked on. However, it only works with Chrome.
Cons
Con Plugins are quite buggy
- Lots of plugins can't even be automatically installed using Brackets. Instead you have to download every .zip file manually and put them in the appropriate directory.
- Some plugins that are installed this way may not even execute.
Con Only one folder can be open at a time
Brackets only allows you to have one folder/project open at a time. Opening another folder will close the previous one. However, you can open another project in another window (Debug > New Brackets Window).
Recommendations
Comments
Flagged Pros + Cons
Con Still missing some elementary text editor commands
Some gaps have to be filled by plugins, while these features should be built in.
For example:
- Jump to matching brace (bracket / parenthesis);
- Gutter selection of lines;
- Recall previous searches / replacements;
- Autofill of search field with text under caret (text has to be selected);
- Show whitespace / end of lines / indentation guides / right margin;
- Selection to upper / lower case;
and some more.