Adobe releases Adobe Brackets - An open source code editor for the web - Aaron Lumsden | Aaronlumsden.com Aaron Lumsden

Adobe Releases Adobe Brackets – An Open Source Code Editor for the Web Written by Aaron Lumsden on 21 Aug 2012

Adobe is proving that there is life beyond Dreamweaver by announcing the BETA release of Adobe Brackets, an open source editor for the web. The great thing about Brackets is that it’s built entirely using HTML,CSS and Javascript and allows users to contribute ideas, fix bugs and extend its current functionality.

Adobe have taken a step back from the cluttered interface of Dreamweaver and understood that the user interface shouldn’t interfere with the actual task that you’re trying to achieve. Adobe explain:

“Rather than clutter your workspace with floating panels, toolbars and icons, Brackets focuses on providing “Quick Edit” in-line views that provide context-sensitive access to your content, without taking you away from your code.”

One of the stand out features for me is the ability to be able to edit your css whilst editing your html file. Simply click on the tag element with a given id or class and press ⌘ E/Ctrl E . This instantly brings up the relevant CSS for that HTML tag, saving you the time of having to flick between your HTML and CSS document. This can be seen in the image below

Although Adobe describe the project as “still being in the oven” you can check out this early version by checking it out on Github. It currently has two different repositories. One repository holds the main code whilst the other offers a downloadable version that you can use on your PC or Mac. Both of which use the Webkit framework.

In the above video you can see some of ‘Brackets’ features and the projects hopes for the future.

The open source editor also utilises codemirror. Codemirror is a much more powerful syntax highlighter and is used across the web on apps such as JS Bin. This will definately come in useful if you are ever building an app that requires a code editor that you can use in your browser.

Have you tried out Adobe brackets? What do you think of it? Will it make you ditch your current code editor?