# Source code editors

Code is simply text in a chosen programming language that is interpreted and executed. You can write code in a variety of environments. The most straightforward source code editor is the command line interface (CLI) (the console/command prompt in your operating system). A benefit of writing applications in the CLI is that it is simple and straightforward to get started as some form of CLI is usually built into the operating system for many languages or included when you install a programming environment.  An issue with writing code in the CLI is that many other environments provide tools and resources to improve the process. Source code editors have characteristics specifically designed to simplify and speed the development process, such as [syntax highlighting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntax_highlighting), [indentation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentation_style), [autocomplete](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autocomplete) and [brace matching](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brace_matching) functionality.&#x20;

Over the years a number of source code editors have been popular and are still popular and opinions and feelings about them are as strong as opinions and feelings about a religion. Thus, here comes a list of popular source code editors and my best suggestion is for you to test a few and find out what works best for you.

1. Atom
2. Brackets
3. Eclipse
4. Emacs
5. Gedit
6. NetBeans
7. Notepad++ (Windows only)
8. SlickEdit
9. Sublime Text
10. TextMate (macOS only)&#x20;
11. UltraEdit
12. vi/Vim
13. Visual Studio
14. Visual Studio Code

If I had to make a recommendation I would recommend Visual Studio Code as it is free, works on all platforms, supports practically all programming languages and has all the common necessary tools.

