Perl editor recommendation... 7

[nix45]

Perl newbie here...

What do you all use to write your Perl scripts in (both Linux and Windows environments)? I mostly use Linux, but will occasionally write scripts in Windows as well.

In Linux, I use vim and am happy with it, but if there is something better please let me know. With Windows, notepad just doesn't cut it. I just tried a demo of DzSoft Perl Editor (for Windows) and was impressed. I also tried UltraEdit32, which I know is very popular, but I don't see the big deal about it. DzSoft seemed much better.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[nfaber]

IMHO EditPlus 2 is the best by far. Free to.

http://download.com.com/3000-2352-10226517.html?tag=lst-0-1

 

[siberian]

EditPlus is the best on a PC. BBEdit is fabulous on a Mac.

Both have my required feature of 'save/open from FTP'. This is a gigantic time saving feature.

 

[mikevh]

I used to use Emacs on Unix/Linux and loved it. (This was after several years of using vi, which I never really liked, though I was fairly expert with it.) I'm currently using notepad on Windows, but you're right, it just doesn't cut it. I'm going to install Emacs soon, I think.

 

[raklet]

Nobody ever mentions it, but I like Context on windows.

 

[nix45]

I downloaded EditPlus earlier at work from the link you sent, but its not free, it was a 30-day eval. No that that matters, I'd be willing to pay a few bucks for a decent editor. The thing I liked best about the DzSoft Perl Editor was that it had a built in web server where you can run any CGI script right from the program and pass any needed paramters or arguments to it on the fly. It had the same thing with regular scripts that run in a command window. This is very convenient not even having to close the script or switch to a different program to test it. Does EditPlus have this feature? I'm not in front of a Windows box right now to test it (and won't be until I go back to work on Monday). I only use Linux at home.

raklet, I'll try out Context on Monday.

Chris

 

[siberian]

EditPlus doesn't have that feature.

I have always found those sorts of 'run cgi on the local host' things very limiting. Pretty much every piece of code I write has heavy database dependancies and the like. Those tools are really only useful if you are writing single run, very contained applications.

I registered EditPlus, every since my Mac started to die on me its been a lifesaver on this wintel box.

 

[PaulTEG]

Textpad from

http://www.textpad.com

is a my preferred option. It lets you check for errors within the editor
Tools->Run->program[D:\Perl\bin\perl.exe]parameters[-c myscript.pl]

Can't pass parameters to it though

--Paul

 

[raklet]

Context has a feature similar to what Paul describe. You can set up to 4 hotkeys per file extension. The hot keys can be programmed to shell out to a command window or execute any other command. You can pass parameters (either hardcoded or have a dialog prompt)to it and it will also return results inside the editor if you prefer.

 

[nfaber]

I agree with Siberian. I rarely write a script that runs on the system where have EditPlus installed. I work from my laptop on Unix and WinNT systems. With the FTP options I can open up and work on a Unix script, save it etc. just like I was working on the Unix system. It is so convienient this way I use it as a Unix Log File Reader, config file editor, etc. It's also an easy way to get a file of a Unix system and then save it for e-mailing, printing etc.

I don't know how I lived without it! JMO

 

[Coderifous]

Vim is the shizzle. You can get it for windows too:

http://www.vim.org

It's what the hardcore use.

--jim

 

[siberian]

The hardcore stick with vi

vi/vim are great, I just would never recommend them to someone asking on tek-tips 'What editor do I use'...

 

[nix45]

I already mentioned in my first post that I love vim for Linux and thats all I use for any text file editing on *nix systems. I doubt that there is anything better than vim for Linux. The real question was that I'm looking for an editor for when I'm forced to use Windows.

Thanks everyone for the great idea's, I'll download all of these editors on Monday and try them out to see which one I like best. Keep 'em coming if you have any more.

Chris

 

[icrf]

I've been a long fan of UltraEdit. It's at the same level as EditPlus and TextPad from what I remember when I was in the market for a new editor a few years ago. Open/Save via FTP, output windows, custom hot keys, even HTML-Tidy and other verifications. Unix-style regular expressions in addition to UE's own little method are available for search[/replace]. All have expandable syntax grammars for highlighting different languages.

Really, if you're used to vim already, just get vim for windows. Most of the time windows people have a hard time getting over the vim learning curve, but once you've crossed it, there's not much turning back.

________________________________________
Andrew - Perl Monkey

 

[PaulTEG]

Ah for a TPU editor from the days of the VAX ...
-P

 

[MikeLacey]

TPU? <grin> good grief Paul...

Mike

Want to get great answers to your Tek-Tips questions? Have a look at faq219-2884

It's like this; even samurai have teddy bears, and even teddy bears get drunk.

 

[PaulTEG]

And i got grey hair to prove it
-heheheh <maniacal laugh> hehe no officer I don't know what your talking about <bollox I'm in Finland again>woops</bollox>
he he hennnhg
--Paul

 

[Leland123]

Hi,

You might give Komodo a try. It's a complete perl IDE. It's exactly the same under both Windows and Linux. It has many nice features like variable watch window, break points where I can step through my code, auto indention, perl syntax checking while actively typing code, project management, program version control, syntax coloring, and two many other feature to mention here. Komodo also supports python, Td, PHP, and XSLT with a full set of feature. It supports about 15 other language with a partial set of feature like syntax coloring and highlighting.


Komodo won the LinuxWorld readers choice award for best IDE this year. The personal edition is only $29.95, but the professional version go up to $295.00. I brought the professional verison for Windows on sale for $245.00, and the personal addition for Linux for $29.95. I prefer to write my perl code under the Linux OS using Komodo for Linux. It's a really nice product.

You can find out more about Komodo below:

http://www.activestate.com/Products/Komodo/

Regards,

LelandJ

Leland F. Jackson, CPA
Software - Master (TM)

http://www.smvfp.com

Nothing Runs Like the Fox

 

[mikepro1]

I use Textpad, it is an awesome editor. Full syntax highlighting, very configurable and flexible. Also, you CAN pass it options if you set the tool up right. (See below). Just type them at the end of the argument line when you run the perl tool. I have it setup to be able to run with the perl Tk debugger, so it is really very powerful.

The first tool I created in textpad I called perl and have it configured thusly:
Command: cmd.exe
Paramters:c:\perl\bin\perl.exe -w $File
Initial Folder:$FileDir
Prompt for parameters and Capture output are checked.
Regular Expression to match output:
^.+at \(.+\) line \([0-9]+\)[.,]?

File: column 1, Line Column 2.

For the perl debugger, everything is the same except the paramters are: perl -dtkdb $File


So, this lets me run teh perl script from within textpad, (with or without the excellect PerlTk debugger), and captures the output. If there are compile errors, you simply double click on the error message line in the output and textpad takes you to the line. I have these setup as shortcuts to be run using Ctrl-1 and Ctrl-2.

It works very well.

 

[wimvanherp]

For Windows there is one editor that is really the max and it's free : Perl OPEN-IDE. This is really a programming environment where you can go step by step, evaluate the variables. I couldn't work anymore without this program, once you have worked with it you are addicted

Wim Vanherp