When comparing Xi Editor vs Textpad, the Slant community recommends Textpad for most people. In the question“What are the best programming text editors?” Textpad is ranked 32nd while Xi Editor is ranked 77th. The most important reason people chose Textpad is:
Textpad can handle large text files very quickly.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Super fast
All editing operations should commit and paint in under 16ms. The editor should never make you wait for anything.
Pro Different editor front-ends available. Xi editor provides the editor back-end
Pro Highly efficient
Textpad can handle large text files very quickly.
Pro Fast and features macros
Text Pad is fast and supports macros for easy handling of repetitive tasks.
Pro Large number of syntax highlighting add-ons
It's easy to add a new syntax highlighted language to TextPad.
Pro Search and Replace
Excellent regex functions to manipulate data in large text based (csv, php, etc) files.
Pro Easy to get started, especially for Java
When you require a minimal learning curve and a quick start to writing code, TextPad is one of the best choices. Especially for small Java projects, TextPad is the go-to editor.
Cons
Con Under development
Con Macros are not editable
Con No bold/italics
Con Disappointing keyboard shortcuts
The keyboard shortcuts in Textpad are a little dated.