TextMate - Mac OS X Coding Heaven

[Redhat]

Basic Info

App Name	TextMate
App URL	http://www.macromates.com
App Version Reviewed	1.5.3
Test System Specs	iMac (Intel Core Duo), 512mb RAM, 250gb HDD, 20" Monitor
Supported OSes	Mac OS X
Support Methods	Forum, Email, Mailing List
Upgrade Policy	I believe all updates (minor/major) are free (not 100% sure)
Trial Version Available?	Fully-functional 30day trial
Pricing Scheme	€39 (Euros)

Intro:

TextMate is probably the best text-editor for the Mac OS X operating system. This program, for the price, has blown me away. I can't personally afford it at the moment, but the trial is running fully-functional for me (and will for 30 days). The feature-set is extensive and the program itself is in active development. It recently won a "Best Developer Tool Award" at WWDC (Official Apple Event - I think). Here are just some of the main features presented on the front-page of their site:

* Ability to Search and Replace in a Project
* Auto-Indent for Common Actions Like Pasting Text
* Auto-Pairing of Brackets and Other Characters
* Clipboard History
* Column Selections and Column Typing
* Completion of Words from Current Document
* CSS-like Selectors to Pinpoint the Scope of Actions and Settings
* Declarative Language Grammars for Graceful Mixing and Hacking
* Dynamic Outline for Working With Multiple Files
* Expand Trigger Words to Code Blocks With Tab-able Placeholders
* File Tabs when Working With Projects
* Foldable Code Blocks
* Function Pop-up for Quick Overview and Navigation
* Plug-able Through Your Favorite Scripting Language
* Recordable Macros With No Programming Required
* Regular Expression Search and Replace (grep)
* Run Shell Commands from Within a Document
* Support for Darcs, Perforce, SVK, and Subversion
* Support for More Than 50 Languages
* Switch Between Files in Projects With a Minimum of Key Strokes
* Themable Syntax Highlight Colors
* Visual Bookmarks to Jump Between Places in a File
* Works As External Editor for (s)ftp Programs
* Works Together With Xcode and Can Build Xcode Projects



Who is this app designed for:

It's mainly for people that already have a fair idea of what a text-editor is used for. It isn't a "hold your hand" application - but having said that - it isn't hard to use at all. It's the perfect balance between rookie, and poweruser. It delivers to this demographic exceptionally well.

The Good


Where do I start? The price (€39) is fantastic for what you get. I believe it includes all future minor and major updates. It is highly highly extensible through "bundles" (plugins) and you get a fair few included already. Many many others are available for free download. There is even a bundle for blogging! And almost every language you could think of (see screenshot above for the included bundle list). Whilst the interface looks bare, the features are really in the menus at the top. It is so lightweight for what it does. Oh and spell-checking is fab too!

The needs improvement section


Nothing specifically stands out to be honest. Maybe the blogging bundle could be made to be a little easier to operate, but I am afraid that is the only real criticism I could find. I know, it's sad, but also quite extraordinary at the same time! 


Why I think you should use this product

Well, if you are a Mac user, you may already be using it.. but if you aren't, then this program will make your work so much more efficient it's untrue!

How does it compare to similar apps

I'm afraid I haven't had time to assess the competition, but it fulfills my needs so sufficiently that I do not think there is reason for me to look.

Conclusions

Textmate packs a serious punch for the exceptional price tag. There is many avenues of support (including IRC) and it's my favourite app for Mac that I have found as of yet.

[mouser]

nice, i think we must have a couple of mac osx users here who will appreciate this 

[f0dder]

One thing I can already see I dislike about mac: having the menu bar at the very top of the screen instead of per-application-window. That's a long way to move your mouse on a dual-monitor 1280x1024 setup if you have the app window in the lower-right area of your right screen

I've heard a lot of mac users praise TextMate, but it's feature list doesn't seem that impressive to me. I might just be missing something though

[mitzevo]

I've seen TextMate in alot of screen casts (RoR, etc.), and it looks wicked.. At first it looked a bit weird (the colors, etc.) but after playing with it, it's pretty powerful.. And the colorful schemes give a bit of personality.. , but on a more useful side, the color schemes provide easy identification of variables, operators, etc.

On a side note, there are two (2) Windows clones available (even if they say they're not clones.. ). They look and act alot like TextMate, but are still under heavy development.. and both are commercial, and both offer trial periods.

• InType
• E - A java based clone of TextMate, depends heavily on cygwin