Best code editor for Mac

The C editor included in EditRocket includes many tools to make C programming and source code creation easier. Listed below is information on the C specific tools offered by EditRocket. See the General Highlights section at the bottom of the page for more of what EditRocket has to offer. If you are a Mac user, you can use a Sublime Text editor. Note: Sublime text editor is available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. If you purchase the pro version, you need a single license to run it on any of the systems you own. Even, you can use the free version which is more than sufficient in your learning phase. It all starts with our first-class text-editor. It's new, hyper-fast, and flexible, with all the features you want: smart autocomplete, multiple cursors, a Minimap, editor overscroll, tag pairs and brackets, and way, way more. Autocomplete with Fuzzy Matching Minimap Issues Multiple Cursors Git Status. 10) Textastic: Textastic is one of Mac text editors that is the most affordable and most user friendly which you can find for Mac. The editor of text, code and marking is efficient and simple.

If you are looking to try out Notepad++ but your work machine is a Mac, you might run into a problem, which is — this app was developed for Windows and is only available on that platform. Does this mean you now have no options to use it? Is there a way to try and run it anyway? And what are the best alternatives?

We are addressing all of the above questions in detail below, so let’s get started!

Textedit For Windows

What is Notepad++?

Notepad++ is a text and source code editor. It’s designed for use with the Windows operating system and allows you to edit code for your projects. Conveniently, you can have several tabs with various files open to switch as you work, just like browser tabs.

Notepad++ is distributed for free and is available in 90 languages.

The app is packed with features and allows syntax highlighting, code folding, as well as some limited autocompletion.

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Is there a Notepad++ for Mac?

While Notepad++ is an extremely handy and loved app, there’s no Notepad++ for Mac, unfortunately. The good news is, you have a few options when it comes to editing your source code. First, you might not even need a Notepad++ equivalent for Mac as you can in fact run the app on a Mac using an emulator or a virtual machine. Secondly, the market has quite a few amazing apps that can serve as an excellent Notepad alternative for Mac.

We will cover both solutions in the article below, so keep on reading.

How to run Notepad++ on a Mac

If you are set on running Notepad++ on Mac, you will have to resort to virtual machines and emulators. If you are already using one for another task, you can easily install and use Notepad++ on your Mac. If not, let’s see how you can do that.

And by the way, while dedicated gamers play classics from the 80s using older PC environment emulators, you might not be as passionate about running Notepad++ on your Mac using an emulator or a virtual machine. So here’s a closer look at these options for you to decide if it’s worth the effort.

Run NotePad for Mac with an emulator

To combat the lack of Notepad for Mac, you can use Wine, a free and open source compatibility layer that helps software developed for Windows to run on your Mac. Technically, no code emulation happens in Wine, and the name of the software itself is the acronym for “Wine is Not an Emulator”.

Here are the steps we’ve managed to find that should help you run Notepad++ on Mac:

1. Download the Wine package from its official website and unzip the archive
2. Open up Terminal and type winecfg to create a C drive where Notepad for Mac will live
3. Download Notepad++ from its GitHub repository and put it in the newly created C drive
4. Back in the Terminal, navigate to the C drive directory and install the .exe file by typing wine [file name]
5. To launch Notepad after the installation is complete, just type wine [file name] in the Terminal once more

Use Notepad for Mac with a virtual machine

Your next option is to use a virtual machine, which is exactly what it sounds like — a virtualization of a guest operating system, including Windows needed for Notepad.

To use Notepad++ this way, start by installing Windows on your Mac with the help of VMware Fusion, a software virtualizer for Macs. Here’s a guide we’ve discovered for each step of the process:

1. Make sure you have an official ISO copy (and license keys) of the Windows version of your choice
2. Download and install VMware Fusion
3. When prompted, drag and drop the Windows ISO file onto the Installation Method window
4. Check the Use Easy Install option
5. Fill out your license credentials for Windows
6. Save your new virtual machine
7. Your Windows environment window should now be active!

Now simply download Notepad++ and start using it just like on any Windows machine — and that is how you get Notepad++ for Mac.

Best Notepad++ alternatives for Mac

If simply reading the guides above already felt tedious, you might wonder if you can just find a Notepad++ alternative for Mac that you can install and use without any additional effort. In fact, you can. Below, we talk about Notepad++ alternative apps like CodeRunner, Espresso, Brackets, Sublime Text, Atom, and TeaCode, their features, and uses.

CodeRunnder

CodeRunner is a code editor and an IDE. It’s fast and easy to use. You can write in Python, Ruby, PHP, Perl, Swift, C++, HTML, Java, JavaScript, CSS, and more.

The app has everything you need for work — more than 230 syntax highlighters, smart autofill, auto-indenting, out of the box support for over 25 languages. Debug, browse online documentation, and build in this handy developer app.

Espresso — best HTML editor for Mac?

If you want a dedicated web editor, Espresso is your go-to. This lightweight app for Mac is small and punchy just like its namesake. It handles coding, designing, building, and publishing with a smile on its interface:

Create in HTML, CSS, JS, Ruby, Python, Apache, and more. Use Espresso’s templates and shortcuts, make precise decisions with live preview, utilize find and replace, and create web projects that look nothing less than stunning.

Brackets

Brackets is an open source code editor created by Adobe Systems. As announced on the app website, Adobe ends support for the app on September 1, 2021.

Brackets features include quick edit, quick docs, live preview, JSLint, LESS support. The app supports codes in multiple formats and in multiple languages, including C++, JavaScript, HTML, Python, Perl, Ruby.

If you prefer to use an app that hasn’t been discontinued, Adobe now recommends using Visual Studio Code as an alternative. This free source code editor by Microsoft allows you to install Brackets extensions and work in the way you know and love.

The app has a vast ecosystem of many coding languages, comprehensive syntax highlighting and autocomplete, debugging, built-in Git commands, and much more.

Sublime Text

Uncharted 4 pc compressed download. Another option for you is Sublime Text. This app is a source code editor and debugger. It has the fan-favorite feature command palette, as well as simultaneous editing, quick navigation, autosave, plus its latest version has just been released at the end of May 2021.

This minimalist-looking app is rich with features and can help you effectively edit your source code with the help of its advanced features, including GPU rendering, tab multi-select, context-aware auto complete, powerful syntax highlighting, and much more.

Atom

Text Editor For C Mac Download

Atom is a free open source text editor developed by GitHub. One of the most exciting characteristics of this app is that it is highly customizable.

Marketed as a “hackable text editor for the 21st Century” due to its advanced customization possibilities, this tool allows for cross-platform editing, has a built-in package manager, provides smart autocompletion, offers convenient find and replace, plus can be used for collaboration with its Teletype functionality.

Naturally, Atom is closely integrated with GitHub, so you can log in to your profile and work with Git and GitHub directly from Atom.

Text Editor For Macos

How to write code faster with expanders

Sometimes all that’s stopping you from quicker work pace is the routine — you are forced to type out the same things over and over and get bored before you get to the exciting part. Well, no more!

TeaCode is a code expander that provides you with dozens of expanders for Swift, PHP, Objective-C, and HTML. Plus, creating new expanders in the app is simpler than simple.

TeaCode is supported by numerous Mac text editors, including Xcode, TextMate, Coda, and the above-mentioned Espresso, Atom, Visual Studio Code, Sublime.

Just install the app and follow the official instructions for using it with individual editors on the maker website by spotting instructions for your respective editor.

Conclusion

As you can see from the solutions outlined above, the answer to the question, “Does Notepad++ work on Mac?” is both yes and no. You can run emulators and virtual machines to create an environment in which the app will work on your Mac — as we’ve described Wine and VMware Fusion look like viable options for this approach. So it’s kind of a yes, but you are basically creating a bridge into a different operating system and aren’t running the app on macOS but on your Mac.

And if you are not as much attached to the idea of working in Notepad++ no matter what, you can explore all the source code editing alternatives we’ve listed in this article, or even go beyond that. It’s easy to just install an app that solves your task and be done with it, isn’t it?

Free Mac Text Editor

Popular Notepad++ replacements include CodeRunner, Espresso, Brackets (discontinued), Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, and Atom. And we’ve discussed them in the paragraphs above.

Text Editor For Coding Mac

If you are a Setapp subscriber, you can get CodeRunner and Espresso in Setapp, try them out, and pick the one that fits your workflow best — or just use both for different tasks! And while you are browsing for new Setapp discoveries, TeaCode is a handy little app that is compatible with numerous text editors and saves you a ton of time through code expanders.

Even if you are not subscribed to Setapp yet, you can get a free 7-day trial to try out the mentioned apps and many more as Setapp provides a curated selection of apps that are the solutions to numerous daily tasks and challenges, making your day more effective and packed with results instead of frustration:)

Terminal User Guide

To edit a plain text file in Terminal, you can use a command-line text editor.

For general-purpose work, it’s easiest to use one of the text editors included with macOS. If you want to use a graphical text editor, use TextEdit (in Launchpad). Otherwise, use one of the command-line editors included with macOS:

Nano nano is a simple command-line editor. It’s a good introduction to using a command-line editor because it includes easy-to-follow on-screen help. See the nano man page.

Vim vim is a vi-compatible text editor. It has many powerful enhancements for moving around, searching, and editing documents. Basic editing is simple to learn, and there’s additional functionality to explore. You can access most of the functionality by using keystroke combinations that trigger certain behavior. vim, or the editor it’s modeled after, vi, is found in most UNIX-based operating systems. See the vim man page.

If you’re new to using the command line and don’t anticipate using it much for editing, nano is probably your best choice. If you expect to spend a lot of time using the command-line environment, it’s probably worth learning vim. They have very different design philosophies, so spend some time with each of them to determine which works best for you.

• In the Terminal app on your Mac, invoke a command-line editor by typing the name of the editor, followed by a space and then the name of the file you want to open. If you want to create a new file, type the editor name, followed by a space and the pathname of the file.

  Here’s an example of using nano to open a new file named “myFile.conf” in your Documents folder: