Is there any console text editors comparable with a modern IDE?

wh33t · 10-20-2012, 03:21 PM

Hey LQ,

I find myself using more and more of the command line these days and I would love to just dump my IDE altogether if I could. The problem is though that I need some of the features of my IDE and I'm seriously doubting whether a text editor could match some of the features, but I'm hopeful.

I'm a web programmer, so in particular,

- Syntax highlighting for PHP is huge for me.
- Syntax completion for PHP is another.
- The ability to <tab> as two spaces instead of a tab
- The ability to copy and paste code blocks with or with out the mouse, but I prefer the mouse

Does such an editor exist? I have a bit of experience using JOE on an openBSD install a few years back. I didn't quite like it. For my Ubuntu server I've just been using nano, but I presume that it doesn't boast the features I like. I know VI is a big one, I've used it in the past when I was way bigger linux newbie and didn't like it. But I would consider it again.

Any how, thanks for reading and replying.

TobiSGD · 10-20-2012, 03:32 PM

Don't know for syntax completion, but Vim or Emacs are the ones you should look at.

wh33t · 10-20-2012, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TobiSGD

Don't know for syntax completion, but Vim or Emacs are the ones you should look at.

Awesome. I'll check those two out. I'm sure they are in the Ubu repositories.

Snark1994 · 10-20-2012, 03:36 PM

Vim certainly has syntax completion - I can't remember if it's a plugin or not, but if I hit Ctrl+Shift+n then it lists all possible completions for me, which is a godsend.

wh33t · 10-20-2012, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snark1994

Vim certainly has syntax completion - I can't remember if it's a plugin or not, but if I hit Ctrl+Shift+n then it lists all possible completions for me, which is a godsend.

What language do you write?

Snark1994 · 10-20-2012, 03:42 PM

Quite a lot, to various degrees: I've only really used the feature for C/C++, but I just checked it works in PHP, and I imagine it's relatively easy to extend to whatever language you like...

David the H. · 10-21-2012, 05:08 AM

Do be aware that vim (along with it's predecessor vi) has a very different conceptual nature from the text editors you may be used to, and it can take some time to get used to. However, it's also extraordinarily powerful and expandable, and can do amazing things after you get to know it.

To start with, read this for inspiration:
http://www.rudism.com/s/vimcreep

Here's a good, detailed introduction to the program:
http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Vim_en-First_Steps

And here's one of the main sites storing vim tips. It's huge:
/http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Vim_Tips_Wiki

Finally, after you install vim, you should be able to run vimtutor and it will load up a pre-designed tutorial text that you can work through to become familiar with the basic operations.