IDE vs Text Editor

What is an IDE

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. IDE is an open source software environment that consolidates basic developer tools required to build and test software. An IDE is a program that combines several parts of a computer program into a single graphical user interface (GUI). Developers must utilize a variety of tools during the software development lifecycle, including text editors, compilers, and debugging. These tools must be maintained individually in the absence of a development environment. All of these developer tools are tied to one framework or a group of frameworks in an integrated development environment. An integrated development environment (IDE) allows a group of developers to work on different modules of the same project in an organized manner. For example Xcode is an IDE specifically built for Apple platforms.

What is a text editor

A text editor is simply a computer program and a tool used for text editing. It is one of the most important tools of developers that enable them to type and edit text, mostly programming language files. Text editors are not directly related to programming; in fact, they are designed to work with framework or language of your choosing.

Difference between IDE and Text Editor

While the choice between a text editor and an IDE is surprisingly subjective, both are extremely different tools with distinct features and functions. A text editor is exactly what it sounds like: a simple text editor without the added bells and whistles of a full-featured IDE. A text editor is just a computer software and a tool for editing plain text. An IDE, on the other hand, is a full-fledged software environment that combines the essential developer tools needed to design and test software.

Which one to use

SublimeText

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SublimeText is a packed with functionality and still remains easy to use. SublimeText offers the simplicity of traditional text editors, with a sleek and incredibly fast user interface. Many developers find it easier to use than Vim, as it takes much less time to master the program.

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The biggest disadvantage of SublimeText is the price, it costs $90 while VSC is completely free. Another disadvantage is that SublimeText is very fast on small projects, but once you start working on a more complex project the program is no longer as fast and lightweight.

Visual Studio Code

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Visual Studio Code is an open source program. That means it's to use. Vscode supports a lot of different programming languages, making it easy to use. Visual Studio Code has a builtin autocomplete that makes writing code much more convenient. Furthermore, the program can be expanded according to your own wishes by thousands of plugins that you can search and find inside the text editor.

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While Visual Studio Code's Plug-in manager is very useful, it also contains a lot of low-quality plug-ins. This means that it can take you awhile till you find the right plugin to use.

Conclusion

I'm not willing to pay that much for a text editor. So if I had to choose, I'll go with VScode. In my first year I was advised to use brackets but when it got discontinued I switched to VScode. So I'm already familiar with the interface and functionality. Besides VScode works much better with big complex projects, which this project eventually will become.