RE: html and dreamweaver

Richard Taylor wrote:
"[Homesite] has one downside, if you are typing a lot of javascript it will
give you insight that doesn't pertain, then again this an HTML list."


When writing JavaScript in Homesite, simply use the tag and function insight
toggle buttons (conveniently located just to the left of the text) to turn
those features off. Then turn them back on again when the script is
complete.

The thing about Homesite is that it does only what you ask it to do. For
those who continue to complain that Dreamweaver, et al, change your code,
stop complaining and try it. You can download a 30 day trial version from
http://allaire.com.

Homesite IS Notepad. You can open it, type your text in the editor window,
and save the text as text or html or anything else. No difference.

But Homesite is Notepad with color coding that you can set any way you like.
The increase in readability alone is worth the price of admission. Homesite
is Notepad with the ability to open multiple documents. It is Notepad with
the ability to search and replace throughout the current document,
throughout all open documents, throughout all documents in a directory (with
or without recursion and with the ability to search only certain types of
files). You can even use regular expressions in your search.

Homesite is Notepad with the ability to complete your tags for you. With
HTML Tidy BUILT IN to reformat and clean up your code (not that anal
retentives like me ever need this feature). With a link checker to test all
your links. With a spell checker that can ignore tags. With FTP to upload
your project. With the ability to display your page using either IE or
Netscape (Gecko). What you see is EXACTLY what you would see in Internet
Explorer (or Gecko) because it IS Internet Explorer (or Gecko).

You can save snippets of code for easy re-use (and add them to documents
using keyboard shortcuts). You can split the editor window horizontally to
see two views of your document. You can change all the tags in your document
to uppercase, or to lowercase (great for XHTML). You can insert browser safe
colors in #rrggbb format by clicking on the color in a palette.

Most importantly, YOU CAN DO NONE OF THE ABOVE. You can ignore any feature
you don't want to use. You can turn off toolbars, remove buttons, turn off
features... whatever you want.

As a text editor, EMACS is far superior to Homesite. But as an HTML editor,
Homesite wins easily. EMACS has a painfully long learning curve, and as
someone else mentioned, it's a bit too generic for real HTML color-coding.
If you're only going to use one text editor, use Emacs (or XEmacs, or
Emacspeak). But if you want the best editor for HTML, check out Homesite.
Anyone who says he or she prefers Notepad simply hasn't tried Homesite. With
only a few minutes use, Homesite will double or triple your productivity. In
fact, if I had an employee who insisted on using Notepad, I'd fire him. He'd
be costing me money.

There are plenty of other editors that stand head and shoulders above
Notepad, some might be as good as Homesite. I haven't tried them all. But
between Homesite and Notepad there is no comparison at all, and anyone who
tells you differently is fooling himself. Unless, of course, you believe
that two-finger typing is better than touch-typing, or that a 12" 640x480
monochrome monitor is better than a flat-screen 21" Trinitron with 24-bit
color and 1600x1200 resolution, or that the best way to learn is trial and
error and that teachers/tutorials/textbooks are a waste of time.

If you're an amateur and can't afford to shell out $100 for an editor (cheap
compared to Dreamweaver), then at least try one of the good freeware or
shareware HTML editors. But Notepad? Please... If you're a professional,
then you are aware of the importance of choosing the right tools, thus there
should be no need to convince you.


Just my opinion, of course (but right nonetheless)...

(Not really a plug for Homesite, either, but a plea for professionalism:
Learn the language, use the right tools, follow style conventions, comment
your code, test, test, test, validate everything, and make it accessible!)

Making the world safe for geeks,
Charles F. Munat,
Seattle

P.S. Warning: Homesite 4.5 *does* have a couple of very annoying bugs.
Nothing you can't work around, however. Still, I'd like to wander over to
Allaire one of these days and give Jeremy a swift kick in the rear.

P.P.S. Richard: I sent a copy of this to you because it started as a reply
to you. But the comments about Notepad users don't apply to you since you're
obviously one of the elect.

Received on Monday, 11 December 2000 18:01:16 UTC