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Qs: what's a good simple general purpose text editor for Mac, similar to Notepad++ I've been using VSCode for this, especially since it saves buffers without m

by yumraj 5y ago

Qs: what's a good simple general purpose text editor for Mac, similar to Notepad++ I've been using VSCode for this, especially since it saves buffers without me having to save to a file and would love one with this feature.

nacs 5y ago
Sublime Text is really good. I use VS Code for development but Sublime handles large files much better (large JSONs, log files, etc) and loads much faster than VSC does.
- odux 5y ago
  Sublime is slow though. Both loading and editing. For a native editor I would expect it to be fast and snappy (like Notepad++ on Windows or Textmate on Mac). But the speed and responsiveness is similar to VSCode. The Windows version of sublime is faster and snappier though.
  - sergiomattei 5y ago
    It’s the first time I have seen Sublime described as slow. It’s one of the fastest editors on the market.
MBCook 5y ago
Look at BBEdit. It’s been a standard on Mac for over 20 years. It’s free by default with lots of great extra features that can be unlocked with a purchase.
fisher_S 5y ago
I used Notepad++ on Windows; now on MacOS I use TextMate. It's as simple and lightweight as Notepad++, and if I understand correctly, it has the save feature you're looking for. If you Command+Q without saving to a file, the contents will still be there the next time you start it.
nicoco 5y ago
Kate?
- maverick74 5y ago
  Yeah!!! Kate is awesome!!! https://kate-editor.org https://kate-editor.org
sigzero 5y ago
Just a few: - Kate - CudaText - Sublime Text - BBEdit
- maverick74 5y ago
  KWrite in next version 22.08 will basically be an extra-lite Kate, for those interested. https://kate-editor.org/post/2022/2022-03-31-kate-ate-kwrite/ https://kate-editor.org/post/2022/2022-03-31-kate-ate-kwrite... I don't know which one is better, however, Kate or Notepad++... Opinions?
  - Narishma 5y ago
    > KWrite in next version 22.08 will basically be an extra-lite Kate Wasn't that always the case?
afarviral 5y ago
gVim (only on windows/linux) with a minimal config is my preferred. Fast but a few powerful built-in vim features like search, replace, syntax highlighting, spellchecking, auto-indent etc. It loads in about 1.5s on my machine and renders the text nicely. Maybe take a look at https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim on mac, perhaps someone can comment about the state of macvim?
- nickduggets 5y ago
  MacVim is a great compromise between vim and standard Mac behaviour (like mapping the standard app shortcuts everyone expects). They keep their bundled vim version updated pretty well too. I haven't got any complaints about it (though I do still tend to run vim in the terminal out of habit), like I do with gVim on Windows.
wildrhythms 5y ago
TextMate is my go-to for being free and open-source with lots of great features while still being super fast and lightweight https://macromates.com/ https://macromates.com/

by yumraj 5y ago

nacs 5y ago

Sublime Text is really good. I use VS Code for development but Sublime handles large files much better (large JSONs, log files, etc) and loads much faster than VSC does.

odux 5y ago
Sublime is slow though. Both loading and editing. For a native editor I would expect it to be fast and snappy (like Notepad++ on Windows or Textmate on Mac). But the speed and responsiveness is similar to VSCode. The Windows version of sublime is faster and snappier though.
- sergiomattei 5y ago
  It’s the first time I have seen Sublime described as slow. It’s one of the fastest editors on the market.

MBCook 5y ago

Look at BBEdit. It’s been a standard on Mac for over 20 years. It’s free by default with lots of great extra features that can be unlocked with a purchase.

fisher_S 5y ago

I used Notepad++ on Windows; now on MacOS I use TextMate. It's as simple and lightweight as Notepad++, and if I understand correctly, it has the save feature you're looking for. If you Command+Q without saving to a file, the contents will still be there the next time you start it.

nicoco 5y ago

Kate?

maverick74 5y ago
Yeah!!! Kate is awesome!!! https://kate-editor.org https://kate-editor.org

sigzero 5y ago

Just a few: - Kate - CudaText - Sublime Text - BBEdit

maverick74 5y ago
KWrite in next version 22.08 will basically be an extra-lite Kate, for those interested. https://kate-editor.org/post/2022/2022-03-31-kate-ate-kwrite/ https://kate-editor.org/post/2022/2022-03-31-kate-ate-kwrite... I don't know which one is better, however, Kate or Notepad++... Opinions?
- Narishma 5y ago
  > KWrite in next version 22.08 will basically be an extra-lite Kate Wasn't that always the case?

afarviral 5y ago

gVim (only on windows/linux) with a minimal config is my preferred. Fast but a few powerful built-in vim features like search, replace, syntax highlighting, spellchecking, auto-indent etc. It loads in about 1.5s on my machine and renders the text nicely. Maybe take a look at https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim https://github.com/macvim-dev/macvim on mac, perhaps someone can comment about the state of macvim?

nickduggets 5y ago
MacVim is a great compromise between vim and standard Mac behaviour (like mapping the standard app shortcuts everyone expects). They keep their bundled vim version updated pretty well too. I haven't got any complaints about it (though I do still tend to run vim in the terminal out of habit), like I do with gVim on Windows.

wildrhythms 5y ago

TextMate is my go-to for being free and open-source with lots of great features while still being super fast and lightweight https://macromates.com/ https://macromates.com/