Important Update
Online code editors are a fun and easy way to write codes in hypertext and style languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, and PHP, etc. The online editors are also commonly referred to as Integrated Development Environments (IDE) and are available on the internet for free.
Convenience is a key advantage of online code editors as they have all the functionality to complete software development processes such as complying and debugging. They also allow you to share the code with others using saved URL codes.
Many online code editors are designed to have cross-platform interoperability. Although there are several different types of code editors, programmers often choose based on support for specific coding practices, ease of use with certain programming languages, features available, and most importantly, preference. The following will explore different online code editors and why some programmers prefer them to others.
Cloudd9.com is one of the most powerful and popular online code editors to write, run, and debug your code. The editor also allows you to keep your work private or make it public in order to collaborate with other developers in your circle. Cloud9 makes developing much faster and testing extremely easy. It is no wonder that Amazon acquired it.
Now renamed AWS Cloud9, it is part of Amazon Web Services (AWS). There are no extra charges for using Cloud9 once you’re signed up for AWS. There are over 40 programming languages that can be used on the platform. Since it is part of the Amazon family, there is premium support. There is also a feature that lets you collaborate with team members on the same program.
Visual studio online editor has been around for a while and it is a great source to edit your code in languages ranging from C#/VB and C++ to JavaScript and Python. It helps you code faster in addition to finding and fixing bugs without any hassle. Most importantly, Visual Studio guides you with live assistance and you can also use an auto-completion feature to increase your speed and accuracy.
The Visual studio online editor has become more and more user-friendly with subsequent improvements. Microsoft has built it in a way that supports C # especially, legacy app compatibility, full-stack web development, and has one of the best debugging tools. It is ideal for working with teams on large projects and it has a great selection of extensions such as the Resharper.
Although it can produce highly efficient results it is not without its drawbacks. Visual Studio can be clunky and slow with the command line interface being unresponsive. Some programmers have complained about having to manually save projects.
Coderun is a cross-platform editor designed especially for the cloud. This is a great feature that facilitates sharing with peers and collaborating on projects. It also allows you to use your browser to develop, deploy, and debug various applications. Coderun might be going in obscurity as bigger companies like Microsoft and Amazon keep improving their services.
The main selling point is that you can use Coderun in combination with your desktop editor as well. Alternatively, you can substitute it with your current online code editor. Some of the languages Coderun supports are C#/.NET (3.5), PHP (5.1), JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Additionally, it allows you to easily develop, debug, and deploy web applications such as ASP.NET, PHP, and AJAX using just your browser.
JetBrains Rider is mainly used for rapid application development specifically .NET development and Mono. It is also good for building prototypes. It performances smoothly and efficiently in a way that is rivaled by Visual Studio. Rider runs on multiple platforms including Windows 10, Linux distros, and macOS with an inherently pleasing user interface.
Several programmers praise its ReSharper and debugging features. It is formidable when it comes to front-end technologies since it has built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS. It only lacks in projects that lean on SQL and other databases.
Code editors like Emacs are fundamental programming tools. Emacs has been as the extensible, customizable, self-documenting, and real-time display editor. Emacs is a formidable tool because it allows programmers to modify the way it runs by using the Elisp language to customize it. Emacs can be used as a file manager which can compare the differences between files as well as basic programming tools such as compiling, running, and testing programs.
Nitrous.io is a modern and lightweight online code editor with supporting for over 90 languages. You can run cash, databases, and webservers straight from your web browser including Windows, OS X, Linux/Ubuntu, and Chrome OS. Similarly, it supports almost all of the coding languages such as Ruby, Python, Java, PHP, HTML 5 and CSS, etc.
UPDATE: Unfortunately, Nitrous.io shut down in 2016. However, there are several alternatives to Nitrous.io such as those discussed above.
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