When comparing GCC vs UltraEdit, the Slant community recommends UltraEdit for most people. In the question“What are the best text editors for UNIX-like systems?” UltraEdit is ranked 18th while GCC is ranked 23rd. The most important reason people chose UltraEdit is:
UltraEdit has small memory usage and allows for fast parsing/searching when handling large files.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Mature
GCC was first released in 1987 when it was called the GNU C Compiler, a couple of months after it was released it was extended to support C++ too. Nowadays it supports other languages than C or C++.
Having been in use and constant development for more than 20 years it has reached a state of maturity and stability. The fact that it's so old also means that there are countless resources out there for people who want to use it.
Pro Default on many systems
GCC is the default compiler on several systems. Most of the time people have it installed on their machine without even knowing it's there.
Pro Available for even the most obscure hardware
Since it's so old and very popular it has been ported to almost any architecture imaginable. This means that it's probably compatible with even the most obscure and unheard hardware.
Pro Very stable, excellent cross-platform use
Pro Handles large files (>1GB) extremely well
UltraEdit has small memory usage and allows for fast parsing/searching when handling large files.
Pro Works perfectly with remote files
Supports several protocols for accessing remote files and working on them with the same ease as local files. Files can be integrated in the projects as normal files.
Pro Probably the most versatile general editor in existence.
If you need a general editor, UltraEdit is the way to go. If you were writing C/C++ all day, then this would be your editor. If you need to slog through large files then this is your go to editor. If you need to go through XML files, then this is your editor. If you need to sort data, then this your my editor.
Pro Fast, stable, easy to use
It loads with a short delay, but once loaded it's snappy and rock-solid. Anyone accustomed to using Windows text editors will feel at home in its interface, and those that prefer alternate keybindings can easily change them.
Pro Search and replace capabilities
From Ultraedit to Perl to Unix regex engines, the search and replace can accomplish just about anything.
Pro Responsive company
Whether for feature requests, technical support or license questions, IDM is always quick to respond.
Pro Nice hex display & edit
There's a handful of other features like this that make UltraEdit indispensable.
Pro Extremely customizable GUI editor
UltraEdit offer the best of both worlds. it has a full on GUI along with all the shortcut commands you need. There's no need for the user to suffer 80 char limitations of a terminal editor.
Pro Highly flexible
UltraEdit allows you to handle groups of files as a project.
Cons
Con Proprietary
It's not free and a license costs $79.99.
Con The themes introduced in version 20 regressed certain aspects of syntax coloring
The themes simplified the syntax highlighting which lost the capacity to have as many colors as one wanted to define. Now it is limited to around 20 different colors. In general it's not a problem but in certain cases it broke coloring.
For some reason, the classic theme is the only one that is totally pleasant for readability well with syntax highlighting.