The Linux operating system is a popular and free alternative to Windows, and a great alternative for programmers, who are often forced to use Windows for their job.
Linux is usually found on servers, though many programmers use it on their desktop computers as well. The biggest reason for this is the wide variety of programming languages that Linux supports.
For this guide, we’ll focus specifically on the best text editors available for programming in Linux.
Linux Best Text Editor For Programming
1. Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a feature-packed text editor built for “code, markup, and prose.” It natively supports tons of programming languages and markup languages. Using plugins that are maintained under free software licenses, one can extend its functionality.
“Goto Anything” is a popular feature of the Sublime Text that lets you quickly navigate files, lines, or symbols. The other main features of Sublime Text are command palette, Python-based plugin API, simultaneous editing, project-specific preferences, etc.https://17a27806d5da57ef47fd3024a3029639.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
The interested users can find download links and further details about Sublime text on its website.
Installing Sublime Text
wget -qO - https://download.sublimetext.com/sublimehq-pub.gpg | sudo apt-key add -sudo apt-get install apt-transport-httpsecho "deb https://download.sublimetext.com/ apt/stable/" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sublime-text.listsudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get install sublime-text
The installation processes for other Linux distributions are mentioned on the official Sublime website.
2. Atom
Atom is a free and open-source text editor that’s developed by GitHub. Based on Electron (CoffeeScript, JS, Less, HTML), it’s a desktop application built using web technologies. Often being called the text editor of the 21st century, it’s a modern text editor that’s hackable to the core.
The major features of Atom are cross-platform editing, built-in package manager, file system browser, multiple pane support, find and replace function, and smart autocompletion. You can select from 1000s of open source packages and add new features to Atom. It’s also customizable to suit your needs and style.https://17a27806d5da57ef47fd3024a3029639.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Since Microsoft acquired GitHub, the pace of Atom’s development has slowed down (Probably because Microsoft owns Visual Studio Code). However, it’s still one of the best text editors for Linux out there.
Installing Atom
sudo apt install atom
You can also download the .deb and .rpm files from the official Atom website
3. Vim
Vim, or Vi IMproved, is an advanced text editor that aims to deliver a more powerful performance and extend the capabilities of de-facto Unix editor ‘Vi.’ It’s a highly configurable text editor that’s built to serve the needs of a developer. That’s why it’s often called a ‘programmer’s editor.’
It’s designed to be used both as a command-line interface and as a standalone application in a GUI. While beginners complain that it’s tough to use, they also learn that it’s one of the most powerful text editors around. Its main highlights are automatic commands, digraph input, split-screen, session screen, tab expansion, syntax coloring, and tag system. Vim is written in C and Vim script.https://17a27806d5da57ef47fd3024a3029639.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
Vim 8.2 is the latest stable version of this popular text editor for Linux. You can find more information and download it on Vim’s website.
Installing Vim
sudo apt-get install vim
4. Gedit
Gedit comes loaded as the default text editor of the GNOME desktop environment. This general purpose text editor aims at simplicity and ease of use. Following the GNOME project philosophy, Gedit comes with a clean and straightforward GUI.
Written in the C programming language, Gedit witnessed its first public release in 2000. This open-source and free software features full support for the internationalized text. In Gedit, you get configurable syntax highlighting various programming languages like C++, C, HTML, Java, XML, Python, Perl, and others.
The latest version of Gedit arrives with GNOME 40. You can find the download links and further information about Gedit here.
Installing Gedit:
sudo apt-get install gedit
5. GNU Emacs
There’s a good chance that Emacs will be one of your favorite Linux text editors. It has been around for a long time. GNU Emacs, created by GNU Project founder Richard Stallman, is its most popular version that’s used by developers and Linux enthusiasts all across the world.
Written in Lisp and C programming language, this free software is extensible using a Turing complete programming language. The users of GNU Emacs also enjoy extensive documentation and tutorial support. There’s also the availability of extensions like debugger interface, mail, and news.
The latest release of this free/libre text editor is GNU Emacs 27.2. For more information, visit this link.
Installing Emacs
sudo apt-get install emacs
6. Visual Studio Code
Like the best Linux distributions for programmers, there are various options for Linux editors that one can use to get their daily jobs done. Despite being created by Microsoft, Visual Studio Code is completely open-source, and its source code can be accessed on GitHub. As of today, over 2.6 million users use it.
Featuring a modern look, VS Code delivers a powerful performance despite being lightweight. There’s a vast library of extensions that enable support for more languages, commands, debuggers, etc. This cross-platform tool (Linux, macOS, and Windows.) comes with out-of-the-box support for TypeScript, JavaScript, and Node.js.
VS Code installation command:
sudo apt install codeIf you’re running CentOS, Fedora, or OpenSUSE, you can download the .rpm file from the official website.
7. nano
nano is a user-friendly text editor that’s widely used on Unix-like operating systems. nano, first released in June, 2000, emulates the Pico text editor and comes loaded with additional functionality. It runs in a familiar command line interface.
If you love spending days and nights playing with configuration files in a terminal, nano will fulfill your needs. Its major highlights include Autoconf support, case-sensitive search function, auto-indentation, interactive search and replacement, tab completion, soft text wrapping, etc. It’s written in the C programming language.
The latest release of this text editor is GNU nano 5.6.1.
Installing nano Text Editor
sudo apt-get install nano
Head over to the official nano website to download the .deb, .rpm, and binaries.
8. KWrite
KWrite’s first public release was in 2000, and it has come a long way since then. It is a lightweight text editor developed by KDE and is based on the KATE text editor and the KDE KParts technology.
The major features of this popular text editor include word completion, auto-indentation, syntax, highlighting according to file type, Vi input mode, and support for plugins. Other exciting features of KWrite are extensibility, encoding support, remote file editing, etc. It’s written in C++.
Installing KWrite
sudo apt-get install kwrite
You can search for KWrite and install it if your distro has a software center. Here’s the KWrite listing on KDE Applications.
9. Brackets
Brackets is a popular text editor that was launched by Adobe back in 2014. This free text editor comes with Live Preview, Inline Editing, focused visual tools, Preprocessor support, and other exciting features. Created from the ground up, it’s developed for web designers and front-end developers. Despite being lightweight, this open-source text editor comes loaded with all qualities of a modern text editor. It’s written in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
However, Adobe will stop supporting Brackets on the 21st of September and is currently “encouraging” its users to switch to Visual Studio Code because of the Adobe – Microsoft partnership.
The latest release of this great text editor is Brackets 1.14.1.
Installing Brackets
sudo snap install brackets
10. JED
JED is a popular Linux text editor that uses the S-Lang library. This cross-platform tool is available for various other platforms, including Unix, VMS, OS/2, BeOS, Windows, OpenVMS, etc. In case you’re running DOS, you can run JED’s older versions. The major plus point of using the JED Linux editor is its lightweight nature that makes sure that you can use it with ease on hardware with limited resources.
The popular features of the JED editor are color syntax highlighting, code folding, emulation of editors like Emacs, different programming modes, editing TeX files, rectangular cut/paste, etc.
JED 0.99-19 is the latest version available for download. Check it out by visiting this link.
JED installation command:
sudo apt-get install jed
11. Geany
Geany is a great text editor that integrates the GTK+ toolkit to deliver an excellent development environment. If you’re looking for a text editor that feels more like an IDE, Geany could be a great choice. This lightweight IDE supports all the main programming languages and has only a few dependencies from other packages.
The notable features of Geany are pluggable interface, syntax highlighting, line numbering, etc. It comes with a clean interface and plenty of customizable options. It’s written in C and C++.
The latest version of Geany text editor for Linux that’s available for download is Geany 1.37.1. Find more details and download the link here.
Geany installation command:
sudo apt-get install geany
12. Notepadqq
The users of Notepad++ on Windows have desired to use the same in the form of an Ubuntu text editor or other Linux distro. However, the software isn’t available on the open-source platform. Notepadqq is a worthy open-source alternative that’s available on Linux. It’s worth noting that both projects don’t share any code; however, Notepadqq is surely inspired by Notepad++.
As a result, the Windows programmers who switch to Linux can get their hands on Notepadqq and get the popular software features on all the platforms. It’s now even available as a Snap for easy installation on Ubuntu and other Linux distributions supporting snap technology.
You can visit the official Notepadqq website to download and install it on your distribution.
How to install Notepadqq?
sudo apt install notepadqq
If you want to download Notepad++, you can download its snap.
sudo snap install notepad-plus-plusSo, these were some of the best text editors for Linux. Visual Studio Code and Atom are my favorite picks in GUI-based editors and nano in terminal-based editors. Now, there are many other great open-source text editors that we might’ve missed in this article so, let us know your favorites.
atom text editor
Atom is a comprehensive environment that can accomplish tasks from basic to complex, for users from beginners to veterans.
Beautiful open source text editors are pretty common these days, between Adobe’s Brackets, Microsoft’s VSCode, and GitHub’s Atom. Each of these seem to offer similar experiences: a modern interface, easily installable plugins, and a big brand-name sponsor. And they’re all actually really good. So what sets Atom apart from any other hyper-modern text editor? Or from a classic old editor like Vim or Emacs?
I’ve used lots of text editors, and upon reflection, I have to admit that once you’ve seen one text editor, you’ve basically seen them all. When judging an editor’s efficacy, 80% of the requirements are satisfied as long as it does one thing: edit text. The other 20% are bonus conveniences, extra gizmos, and fanciful features. They’re nice to have but hardly essential.
I often come back to Atom, though, because, as a user of open source, I have the luxury of using an application just because I can. Here’s what I like about Atom.
Beginner-friendly
One of my favorite things about Atom is that it feels pretty “normal.” I can install Atom on anyone’s computer and they’re off and typing in no time. No new keyboard shortcuts to learn, no serious deviations from user interface conventions. If I take a few minutes to show them a few power features of the application, then they’re quickly empowered to install new plugins and discover useful features they enjoy.
It’s just different enough to feel unique but “safe” enough to trick people into believing (and rightly so) they can use it. That’s a hard line to walk, but Atom manages it, and I appreciate it for that.
Great extensions
When most requirements have been filled as soon as you launch the application, a major factor in “selling” an open source text editor is its extensions. My habitual editor is GNU Emacs, which has a mind-boggling array of extensions so versatile that they can provide everything from an email client to a video game. That’s a hard act to top, and to be honest, I’ve yet to see the editor that can. It shows how important extensions can be, though, and Atom has a nice set of plugins.
There are extensions to add syntax highlighting for languages and formats, to add dynamic linting, and to integrate debuggers, runtime environments, video and music player controls, and much more.
You can practically make Atom the control hub for your desktop, so you rarely have to leave it.
Language and syntax support
I’m a documented fan of Docbook. By extension, I’m a fan of its simplified front-end, Asciidoc. When I evaluate an editor, Docbook schema and Asciidoc support are two of my primary metrics. While XML support is relatively common, integration with a specific schema can be a tall order, and Asciidoc is still relatively obscure. Atom’s community provides great support for my favorite formats.
Of course, I’ve already mentioned that Atom has great extensions in general, but syntax highlighting is an important feature regardless of what language you’re typing. Once again, thanks to a vibrant community, the variety of syntax highlighter options in Atom’s package repository is one of the best.
Easy theming
Atom makes generating your own style as easy as styling a website, so if you’re competent with CSS, you can make your own Atom theme. To create your own theme, navigate to the Package menu. If you don’t see a Package menu, press the Alt key first to reveal the top menu bar. In the Package menu, hover over Package Generator and then select Generate Atom Syntax Theme. This opens a new project called my-theme-syntax by default. You can name it whatever you want, but it should end in -syntax according to Atom convention.
In your new theme project, locate these files: base.less, colors.less, and syntax-variables.less. These define how special keywords, and even background and foreground colors, are themed when your syntax is active. Because they all inherit values from a common template, it’s pretty easy to hack on. For example:
// Syntax styles
.syntax--comment {
color: @light-gray;
}
.syntax--keyword {
color: @purple;
&.syntax--control {
color: @purple;
}
&.syntax--operator {
color: @syntax-text-color;
}
&.syntax--other.syntax--special-method {
color: @blue;
}
&.syntax--other.syntax--unit {
color: @orange;
}
}
The values ending with two dashes, such as .syntax--keyword, are objects recognized by a syntax highlighting engine. If you want to develop your customizations further, of course, you can even create your own syntax definitions (although that’s more work than CSS theming). Read all about the ways to hack Atom at flight-manual.atom.io.
Flexible workflow
Atom has lots of features, and only a subset of them are activated by default. This means you get to decide how you prefer to work, whether you activate new extensions and use them to change Atom on a fundamental level, or you just open up Atom’s preferences and make small adjustments. You can use Atom for writing a fiction book or for writing Python code or technical documentation or anything else.
Even its Git integration doesn’t insist on what you might imagine would be the obvious repository (Github sponsors Atom). It doesn’t have an agenda, and it’s equally useful to everyone, regardless of audience.
Installing
On Linux, Windows, and macOS, you can install Atom from its website.
Alternately, on Linux, you can install Atom as a Flatpak from Flathub.
If you want to build Atom yourself, you can also compile it from its source code on Github.
Try Atom
Atom could be your next text editor, notepad, and IDE. It’s easy to use, easy to configure, easy to extend, and it offers a great user experience. Download Atom today, and give it a try.
Conclusion
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