Comparison of JavaScript-based source code editors explained

This article provides basic feature comparison between some of the JavaScript-based source code editors available today.

Overview

List of source code editors
EditorSiteLatest versionStyle, clone ofCost (US$)Software licenseOpen sourceBrowser supportActivity
AceHome, demov1.4.12, 2020-7Sublime Text / Microsoft Visual StudioNew BSD LicenseFirefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+
AtomHomev1.50.0-beta0, 2020-07-14Emacs, Vim and othersDualChrome
CodeMirrorHome, demo5.59.1, 2020-12-31plain textareaMIT-likeFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+[1]
CodeJarHome, demo1.0.2, 2020-04-05plain textareaMITFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+
Home6.0SublimeText-Public CloudFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+
Codenvy EditorHome2.10.17, 2014-01-17Eclipse-Public CloudFirefox 3+, Chrome, Safari 3+, Internet Explorer 8+, Opera 9+
OrionHome22.0, 2020-04-03.Eclipse SWT StyledText, regular textareadual-licensed: BSD 3-clause and EPLFirefox 37+, Chrome 40+, Safari7+, Internet Explorer 11+[2]
Monaco (Visual Studio Code)Home, demo0.31.1, 2021-12-14Visual Studio CodeMITIE8+, Firefox 4+, Chrome
MarkitupHome, demo1.1.14, 2013-02-04Markup editor, no syntax highlightMIT, GPLIE 6 & 7, Firefox 2 & 3, Safari 3.1, Opera 9+[3]
LDTHome2012-02-19regular textareaMIT, GPLFirefox 3.6+, IE8, Chromium 16, Midori 4.1, Opera 11, Epiphany
YmacsHome, demo 0.5, 2012-03-28EmacsBSDFirefox, Chrome, Safari
CodePressHome0.9.6, 2007-09-26Microsoft Visual StudioLGPL
CodeTextAreaHome, demo2009-06Microsoft Visual StudioBSDDojo widget
EditAreaHome, demo0.8.2, 2010-01-14Microsoft Visual StudioLGPLIE 6+, Firefox 1.5+, Safari 3+, Opera 9+, Chrome[4]
HeleneHome, demo0.9, unknown release dateMicrosoft Visual StudioGPL
9neHomeEmacsGPL
jsviHome viGPL
MDK-EditorHome2.10, 2008Microsoft Visual StudioDualtested to work on: IE 6, 7 - Firefox 2, 3 - Chrome
MicroHome2013nanoGPL
HirenJS Code EditorHomeDemo2023-05plain textarea FreeMITYesFirefox 3.5+, Safari 4+, Chrome, IE 8+, Opera 11.5+Yes

List of features

Feature testing was performed with Firefox 3.0.6 against the current demo version, and results may not match those in other browsers or downloadable versions.

List of source code editor features
FeatureAceCodeMirrorCodeJarOrionCodePressCodeTextAreaEditAreaHelenemarkItUp!MDK-EditorMonaco Editor (Visual Studio Code)
Implementation-->
Syntax highlightPHP-->
Syntax checking-->
Tab support-->
Indent, new line keeps level-->
Indent, syntax-->
Indent, selected block-->
Bracket matching-->
XML matching tag highlight-->
Code folding[5] [6] -->
Code snippets-->
Code suggestion through esprima content assist plugin-->
Toggle syntax highlight on/off-->N/A
Keyboard shortcuts-->
Line numbers-->
Search & replace-->
Spell checking-->
Toolbar-->
Visual styling-->
Undo/Redo-->
Multiple cursors / Block selection-->
IndentGuides-->
Inline widgets-->
Non US charset support-->
Diff editor-->

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://codemirror.net/#supported CodeMirror supported browsers
  2. https://projects.eclipse.org/projects/eclipse.orion/releases/8.0/plan#target_environments Orion supported browsers
  3. Web site: markItUp! Universal Markup jQuery Editor . Markitup.jaysalvat.com . 2013-06-14.
  4. http://www.cdolivet.com/editarea/editarea/docs/compatibility.html EditArea compatibility chart
  5. Web site: Code Folding Demo . CodeMirror . 2013-06-14.
  6. Web site: Orion 0.3 M2 – New and Noteworthy | Orion News . Planetorion.org . 2011-09-26 . 2013-06-14.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Comparison of JavaScript-based source code editors".

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