TextMate: The Missing Editor for OS X
...that, well, can't print. And doesn't have a Preferences window. I've been playing with this code/web editor for awhile since being turned onto it (v1.0.1), like just about every blogger has, so as usual I'm about the last to weigh in.
To keep it short: TextMate is pretty, it has a boat-load features I really like, it costs $50, and it can't @!#$%! print. It's also demo-ware, meaning it'll time out after a certain number of days.
To make it longer: I've only read a few blog posts talking about it, but by and large, it's considered to be the second coming and it's the app they say you have to have. "Totally worth the money.", "Blows BBEdit, skEdit and SubEthaEdit away." And it can't f'scking print. I sorta wish I was making this up; I liked what I played with, and as I mentioned it has a boatload of features.
So many features, that at some point, someone had to sit there and say, "You know, I know our app can't print, and it's a text editor, but wouldn't it be cool if we could drag these tabs around? Oh, and a 'tip of the day' pop up to help new users, just like Word. Werd." Yes, you sir, you can step right up and pay the equivalent of seven six-packs of quality beer for a text editor that can't print.
Apparently, the reasoning behind not having a Preferences window is that it shows off the beauty of how well-designed their interface is: a Preference window simply isn't necessary!
Oh, and if you want to change the syntax highlighting colors, you can open and edit the preferences file manually with your favorite text editor, which while it doesn't print, seems to save just fine. We aren't even going to get started on the keyboard shortcuts, half or more of which are based off of the control key.
Something just feels inherently off about this program, how it's put together and how it's portrayed, meaning I'm either the odd man out (not unusual) or there is some back story to this being made I'm not aware of. It's the same feeling I got while reading 'Snow Crash', and going "Huh, this reads like a screenplay, not a novel." and then finding out it was originally written to be a graphic novel.
*rubs temples*
On another note, I've also been playing with Smultron which is open source and seems to be coming along, even if it was hard for me to take seriously. The author's last name is Borg, it's name means 'wild strawberries' in Swedish, it's icon at a smaller size looks like a pimple, and it has a brushed metal interface. It was also kinda crashy when I first tried it.
However, it turns out you can turn the metal off, although the drawer for some reason still stays metal. I've been using the newer version (v1.0.1) having previously tried v0.7, and it seems pretty stable; hasn't crashed after leaving it open and playing with it off and on for a week and a half. Smultron is pretty quick in terms of performance, but pretty much all the editors based on Cocoa's NSTextView are never fast enough for me. It also has a lot of featuers that I really didn't expect to see in such a young OSS editor, and by and large they're implimented well. Even some weird things, like .mac integration, and the ability to print, and a Preferences window.
Then I tried to work with syntax-highlighting turned on, and realized something as simple as an apostrophe threw it off and turned it into a highlighted smear. Meaning, you can't edit HTML documents that contain words with contractions or anything else that might require an apostrophe, like possessiveness. Right-o, that'll never come up.
*rubs temples*
Posted by drunkenbatmanNovember 04, 2004, at 06:03 AM
Comments (24)
Posted by: Aehso at November 4, 2004 09:09 AM
Yo,
Try Eclipse 3.0 - it does everything TextMate does and a whole lot more, is highly customizable (though the defaults are sensible) and yes, it prints.
Oh, and it's free.
Posted by: Duke at November 4, 2004 09:43 AM
Oh, and if you want to change the syntax highlighting colors, you can open and edit the preferences file manually with your favorite text editor, which while it doesn't print, seems to save just fine.That nearly made me piss myself I'm laughing so hard. :)
I'm glad someone stepped up to say that this isn't all that and a bag of chips, especially after Arrogant Aaron Swartz endorsed it.
Posted by: Kevin Ballard at November 4, 2004 10:32 AM
To be fair, the betas of 1.0.2 now have print functionality, although it's unfinished (I forget how but there's a hidden preference to turn on that makes the version checker find betas in addition to released version).
However, even with print functionality, I don't think I'm going to buy it. I like some of the stuff they have but it's either something that I wouldn't use enough to be worth shelling out $50 (Macros) or it doesn't work right yet (code folding - a good example is the fact that it is literally impossible to create accurate code folding for python code in TextMate)
Posted by: Azark at November 4, 2004 12:08 PM
TextMate can print for more than ten days now.
Maybe you should check your facts before writing.
There is more than 30 language syntax coloring and, yes, you can make new one with a text editor, not like BBEdit where yo need an sdk and CodeWarrior (!).
Anyway, a better way to handle and configure syntax highlighting is coming.
If you don't like white on black, just make it black on white.
I personally don't care if it looks "too geeky" (wtf?) if it spares my eyes.
There will be a prefs window when needed.
TextMate is still rough, but will be the best text editor on mac soon, and more than three times cheaper than BBEdit.
I bought it for 39€ to support the dev and the community build around it.
Posted by: Nathan at November 4, 2004 12:27 PM
To say I was disappointed by TextMate would be a serious understatement. Like you, I got very excited over the hype as I am a text editor junkie and I spend most of the day in a text editor. Even though I've tried very hard, I can not find a text editor that is better than vim (http://www.vim.org). It's installed by default on all *nix and OSX systems, and the Windows version is also very good. It's a command based editor in the tradition of ed which gives it a slightly larger learning curve than your average cocoa editor, but the payoff is worth the investment. If you have vim, just type vimtutor instead of just vim at the commandline and it will take you through a simple tutorial that will get you going. Vim is endlessly configurable, and has a powerful macro language. It also has syntax coloring out the wazoo. The community of users is very large, and there are tons of extentions and macros available at the vim website. No matter how hard I try, I can't find a text editor that I like better. IMHO, TextMate needs antoher 5-10 years before it's as good as vim, and it will *never* be as cheap.
As for Eclispe 3.0, I agree that it is a wonderful platform, but it is *not* a text editor. I wouldn't use it to edit my Apache config or something like that. I use it for Java development, though, and it is easily the best IDE I've ever used.
Posted by: ledgekindred at November 4, 2004 01:10 PM
Thank goodness it's not just me.
I also tried TextMate when "everyone" started crowing about what a wonderfully elegant editor it was and how it did everything anyone could ever want almost as if by magic.
Then I tried using it to do anything useful and discovered that it was pretty much a lot like TextEdit, only without a Preferences window and I had no idea where all these wonderful features were.
Fortunately OS X comes with both "vi" and "emacs" so I'm set.
Posted by: Rails at November 4, 2004 03:29 PM
Azark I just downloaded to see what the fuss was about and it cannot print and the documentation says so. Maybe there is some special beta released ten days ago, but that is irrelevant.
Posted by: Mindflayer at November 4, 2004 04:53 PM
Azark, pull your head out. Functionality and "feel" are missing.
Posted by: count at November 4, 2004 05:54 PM
OMG YOU GOTTA GET THE CVS! It's not open source (or, didn't look like it), so I don't expect to have to update and stay on top of an application to get basic functionality like, say, printing.
And if it doesn't NEED a preferences box, then it should have a preferences file.
Especially on OSX. Hell, even most LINUX desktop apps come with preferences dialog boxes now.
As for alternatives, it depends on what you're doing - BBEdit is nice, Eclipse is nice, IDEA is awesome, VS.Net is really nice.
But all are way too much for simple text editting... (and all print :).
You might try jEdit?
Posted by: Honest Abe at November 4, 2004 06:17 PM
So many features, that at some point, someone had to sit there and say, "You know, I know our app can't print, and it's a text editor, but wouldn't it be cool if we could drag these tabs around? Oh, and a 'tip of the day' pop up to help new users, just like Word. Werd." Yes, you sir, you can step right up and pay the equivalent of seven six-packs of quality beer for a text editor that can't print.
I read this before a meeting, and I had to stifle a chuckle remembering it. Now I'm the weird guy. Thanks! I downloaded this a few weeks ago and my impression was too much work on the website and not enough work on core functionality.
I do not know if you have had this pointed out to you DB, but some caution and voluntary restraint may be in order. With your amount of readers and how you phrase things, you could really harm a small company just getting started.
Posted by: at November 4, 2004 08:28 PM
Spending 12 hours a day in front of my Macs, I want to have a text editor that don't make me feel like I live in the eighties, so forget Vim and Emacs.
BBEdit is way too expensive, plus the v.8 proves that BareBones is stuck with an old code base and that it will stay like that until they rewrite it. System 7 app disguised in an OS X app.
SubEthaEdit is great, but it's not for coding.
TextMate is far from being finished, but the dev is working hard and you can see it by the numerous beta release.
BTW, they're not "special beta" (whatever that means), go to macromates.com, click on weblog and there it is. Or, you can change the auto-update pref to be notified with new betas.
Some features are definitely missing but there's features I never saw elsewhere.
I code in shell, Ruby and Obj-C and I'm more productive and feel better with TextMate than before. In fact, I was sceptical at first, but after a week of intensive use, I ENJOY coding in TM.
You can like it or not but still respect a dev that try to make a new text editor that doesn't feel like the old dinosaurs.
Where is the "Think different" gone?
Everytime I see a new mac app that bring something new, even if I don't like or use it, I'm happy.
I do not know if you have had this pointed out to you DB, but some caution and voluntary restraint may be in order. With your amount of readers and how you phrase things, you could really harm a small company just getting started.
That's the point!
At least don't kill someone who tries to innovate. Give him a chance.
So, try TextMate, and, if it miss features you need, check it in a few weeks/months and they will be there.
Posted by: Azark at November 4, 2004 08:28 PM
^ That was me, sorry.
Posted by: at November 4, 2004 08:42 PM
Speaking of apostrophes and possessives, there are none of the former in the latter form of "its", any more than in "his" or "hers", which should make Smultron's syntax colouring marginally more useful. There's even a newsgroup devoted to this fact: alt.possessive.its.has.no.apostrophe.
Posted by: Marcus at November 5, 2004 12:53 PM
For those of you who want a real text editor that doesn't "make you feel like you live in the eighties," it's worth pointing out that as well as the version that ships with OS X, there is an Aqua version of Emacs available here.
Still no decent Unicode support in Emacs though. What are we, living in the eigties...? -;o)
Posted by: Pel at November 5, 2004 08:47 PM
The author of smultron is working to fix the highlighting issues, i emailed him.
Posted by: Neil at November 6, 2004 06:57 AM
Personally, I haven't printed any code for ... *thinks* ... oh, about two years now? I mean, why would you want to? It's scrap paper before the ink's dry.
Thinking about it, the *only* things I print are Word/Excel documents that have to go by snail mail, and photos for hanging around the house.
Huh, guess I've achieved that paperless office that PCs were supposed to give us. :-)
Posted by: Karen at November 6, 2004 08:07 AM
I tried TextMate too when it appeared to see what all the fuss was about. I loved the code folding, although it seemed slightly erratic in what it would allow you to fold. For a version 1.0 of a program it was good, but felt very rough round the edges.
I must admit that I very rarely print from a text editor either, although it is nice to have that functionality available. I'm glad to see that TextMate now has it but I'd tend to agree that it is a strange thing to launch without.
One of the things that I've noticed as a switcher from Windows is that Mac programs have a high level of interface consistency. This is a good thing - it really helps you to learn a new application. TextMate throws this away. It doesn't even feel like a Windows program either - the lack of a preferences window is just bizarre. I mean, switching anti-aliasing on or off via a menu option? I really struggle to understand how anyone can see this as a positive factor. BBEdit may have too many preferences to plow through, but that doesn't mean that preference windows are bad of themselves.
I do hope that TextMate does well, because I believe that Barebones could do with the competition. I like BBEdit, but it would be nice to see it trying a few new things such as code folding. However, at the moment TextMate feels more like a TextWrangler competitor than a BBEdit one.
Still, I'm watching the development of TextMate with interest.
Posted by: Alun Carr at November 6, 2004 08:37 AM
Of course, there's always the 800-pound gorilla of the Mac text editing world: Alpha. This goes back into the mists of time (i.e., a version ran under System 6). It's largely written in Tcl/Tk, so it has a GUI, and it's completely user-extensible (by writing Tcl code, in the same way as Emacs is extensible by writing Lisp code). The OS X version (AlphaX) is currently in beta testing, and can be downloaded from:
http://www.maths.mq.edu.au/~steffen/Alpha/AlphaX/
Note that you also need the Batteries Included version of Aqua Tcl/Tk:
http://tcltkaqua.sourceforge.net/
Alpha makes BBEdit look like a 7-stone weakling. It even kicks sand in the face of Emacs.
Posted by: kumar mcmillan at November 8, 2004 10:54 AM
doooood ... are you programming on punch cards? Do you print your code and OCR it to your server? wtf??!! TextMate is a PROGRAMMING TOOL, not a word processor. I mean, it can do a whole lot more than that but think about this for a sec, the author wasn't happy with NSTextView (the default Cocoa text editing layer), so he ambitiously REWROTE it to allow for useful features like command-triggered snippets, shell interaction, smart typing, etc, etc, BEFORE he wrote the print functionality. I think you are looking for Apple's next update to TextEdit or something because TextMate is really geared towards coders who want to work more efficiently everyday.
Posted by: hfb at November 8, 2004 01:14 PM
You might give BareBones' TextWrangler a try. - http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/index.shtml
Posted by: Watts Martin at November 12, 2004 02:45 PM
doooood, er, Kumar, I've done professional web application development for years now, and as shocking as it may seem to you, yes, sometimes I've actually had reason to print out code. And strangely, sometimes people use text editors for editing, well, text. Not just code. Text.
It's nice that TextMate has command-triggered snippets and shell interaction, and multiple clipboards and unlimited undos and bookmarks and realtime WebKit preview... so does BBEdit. I really wonder how many people who slag on BBEdit have actually used it, because I see people making these claims a lot lately. (Kind of like how old XyWrite users would get pissed off every time Microsoft introduced a "new feature" in Word that XyWrite had been doing 10 years before that in DOS, I suppose, but I digress.) For HTML, the simple truth is that BBEdit is a lot more aware of the code being entered than TextMate is. Yes, the "Edit Tag" command can be pretty useful. Yes, it's nice to have an editor which understands CSS rules. Yes, I frequently work on HTML files without putting them in "projects" so don't make me create one just to use your [expletive deleted] XHTML template.
And in fact, just looking at some Objective-C code right now in both TextMate and BBEdit, it's clear that BBEdit has more clue what it's editing here, too. TextMate's syntax highlighting is much less useful, in some cases simply wrong; it seems to recognize that there are blocks here, but it can't fold them. (And since it lacks the basic "balance" command, there's no quick way to see what block level I'm at in code.) Quick navigation? In BBEdit, I can get a list of functions and navigate between them with one click, open up any of the referenced header files from the same popup menu.
Look: TextMate has some really cool ideas. It's really promising. But fans need to be realistic about what it does do and doesn't do, and evaluate the competition more honestly than what I usually see. TextMate is a version 1.0 program. All those years of development that people seem to hold against BBEdit are years of adding new features based on feedback from users.
Posted by: doodle at November 16, 2004 01:15 PM
BBEdit is at version 8 and it still sucks.
Posted by: mani at November 21, 2004 04:49 AM
errr... no-one's even MENTIONED XCode as far as i can see...
Really, it's awesome.
Not having a preferences window is nice!
I didn't even try out the TextMate thing because the screenshots on their web page were white text on dark background. Too geeky.