Open source Dreamweaver alternatives
September 13th, 2007 by Dustin Brewer
I have used Dreamweaver for a long time now, before that just like most in the field it was notepad. I used to not need anything fancy but the more I learned about Dreamweaver the more I liked. For instance, the ability to create keyboard shortcuts for custom snippets was endlessly handy. It is the one feature I have yet to find done decently in any other software. I also like auto-complete because when it is done right it saves you tons of keystrokes.However, Dreamweaver has it’s own HTML viewer that doesn’t render like anything else. The closest product that it resembles is IE6, which we all know doesn’t understand CSS. So the bulk of Dreamweaver has always bothered me for the little uses I get out of it.
So I went on a search to find the best solution with the best case scenario being an open source product that has either cross-operating system functionality or versions of the software available for the major operating systems (Linux, OSX and Windows). I was also looking for the editor to be able to have auto-complete, custom snippets, custom keyboard shortcuts, compatibility with HTML, CSS, PHP, Ruby and JavaScript as well as any other languages that I may want to pick up or use in a pinch.
Most of the other programs I had tried didn’t have very good code highlighting. The bulk of the programs I used seemed entirely too simple but without any of the features I needed. Most didn’t have code auto-completion and none really had a solid way to do custom keyboard shortcuts.
What I found above most others (TextPad, EditPad, e, nvu, etc) was that Aptana IDE was one of the best products to meet my demands. It even exceeds my demands in most areas. Although it is a large program (90mb) it does offer a vast array of features, including being available for Linux, OSX and Windows.
It has some nice code completion features that help power users as well as some really basic tutorials for the product for beginners. One of the really nice features that Aptana IDE brings to the table is its very powerful snippets system. You can custom design the snippet to take the highlighted text you have and put it anywhere you want (as many times as you want) in a full length, custom-coded snippet.
It does not however have custom keyboard shortcuts yet, they are working on developing them however and do have a work around for custom keyboard shortcuts. I haven’t tried it yet though, I’m hoping they just come out with the feature in the next versions which should be released pretty quickly.
It has auto-complete features for CSS, HTML, PHP, JavaScript, as well as many others. It even includes popular script libraries like Prototype, lightbox and Scriptalicious.
One of my favorite features about edit the files is its directory structure, it allows you to navigate anywhere on your local directory as well as mapped local directory structure. But the biggie is it allows you to use the file tree for FTP just the same as you would locally without any extra buttons to hit. It reconnects if it has timed out and stays in the same directory you were last at even. Which is a huge benefit to save me from downloading then editing then uploading on minor changes for web sites. I haven’t used the open dialog hardly at all.
All in all right now, I use Aptana for all of my code editing purposes and it has been extremely stable throughout the past few weeks which is reassuring in the fact that it is still in beta. I haven’t had to use any other programs in place of Aptana, which I was afraid I might have to do. It is very easy to jump right into. There are a few settings changes you may need to makeâ�� such as setting the default DTD tag.
Now if I could just find a decent program to replace Illustrator and Photoshop (gimp doesn’t count) then I could save a fortune on software.
Popularity: 12%
September 13th, 2007
I actually have stopped using Aptana because when I used the FTP directory list to save my files it would randomly save a blank file. There wasn't any way to know when it was doing this and caused me to lose my updates to the page.
After about the 5th time having to recover from a backup on various sites I decided to drop it completely.
I know that in Aptana Studio 1.1 they are talking about adding code snippets attached to keyboard shortcuts so I may give it another try. Supposedly they fixed the FTP save bug in Aptana Studio 1.0 though.
September 13th, 2007
Gimp doesn’t count? I prefer it to photoshop and inkscape is better than illustrator in my opinion.
Took me a while to stop with Photoshop but trust me, take the time and gimp will replace it.
BTW, are you still using Aptana? I left it because of how they dropped sftp from the community edition, looking for something better.
September 13th, 2007
Well, i really appreciate Aptana IDE, but the coloring is not pretty good. Ok, i know i can change the colorizing, but is a little boring to do that!
September 13th, 2007
I like the way HTML-Kit works I'll have to give it a full test and see what I think about it in action. So far it seems to be pretty light and have quite a few features.
The plugin system is a little confusing but I'm sure once I understand it a little better it will make sense.
September 13th, 2007
You mgiht want to look into HTML-Kit from Chami http://www.chami.com/html-kit. It has auto-complete, snippets, templates, key assignments, syntax highlighting for all sorts of languages (and you can create/edit to your heart’s content). There are also hundreds of plugins available for whatever language you are writing (HTML, CSS, ASP, PHP, etc). It also has integrated FTP, Tidy and TopStyle lite for CSS. — - And the best thing - it’s free. Windows only, for now.
There is a newer version that they are working on that I tried, and would move to, but I use too many plugins that have not been converted over yet. The regular build is just fine, and I highly recommend it.
September 13th, 2007
I would recommend Emacs to anyone interested in a serious editor. Aptana is a joke compared to Emacs. You have support for every language, you have snippets, shortcuts, code highlighting, auto completion, fide browser, remote editing (ftp/ssh), manage todo/agenda/projects, fixed indentation, code validation, etc. You also have the possibility to extend Emacs’s functionality and customize everything. Here is a quick demo of using Emacs to write Ruby on Rails apps : platypope.org/yada/emacs-demo/
September 13th, 2007
I have always found that Java based programs have less memory leak issues and run much smoother then other software.
I have tried Aptana and I really like what I have seen so far. I agree though, gimp is an awful program that needs to move forward or get out of the way.
September 13th, 2007
Aptana has been great with memory, right now it has been open since about 9am and it is now 2pm. It is using about 2mb of memory and Java is around 128mb of memory. It stays pretty constant and I have yet to see it freeze or lag at all.
The computer I am running here at work only runs a p4 with 1.5gb of memory, and it does fine with Aptana open all day.
I have used Paintshop Pro and have never really been fond of its interface. I used it well before I had used Photoshop, and I am so in love with Photoshop it is going to be extremely difficult for any software to persuade me away.
September 13th, 2007
I have not had the funds to buy dreamweaver until I worked for a company that did. I started using Paintshop pro which is now Corel and it does everything Photoshop does and is easier to understand and learn. Less than$100. Don’t use Illustrator but do use Xara tools which do a lot with vector graphics and all I need for web sites. They too are in-expensive. Will have to try your new find. Another problem with DW and especially CS3is that it is a big with memory and even 2gig of ram doesn’t seem enough. How is this Aptana and it’s need for ram?
January 6th, 2008
> The closest product that it resembles is
> IE6, which we all know doesn’t understand
> CSS.
We all know IE6 CSS Support is Buggy and CSS2 is incomplete. But “doesn’t understand CSS” …is just wrong, and i’m pretty sure you know that too.
My favorite Editor is Jedit coz i work with lots of different Markup & Languages. I just don’t like the Java Swing GUI, besides that its great and have all the features mention in your Article.
Regarding Gimp, i don’t understand why it doesn’t count. I did hate Gimp the first time after i switched to Linux. But it’s pretty perfect for Web Graphics and Gimp 2.4.x made lots of progress. If you prepare Images for professional prints Gimp is may not count coz of the missing CMYK support but for everything else its perfect. Learn how to use it and how much fun it is to create own scripts and you may hate the limited MDI Photoshop Interface soon.
February 8th, 2008
Gimp does not count? Quick story, recently I replaced my wife’s Windows XP OS with Ubuntu. She got tired of her machine crashing, running slow, etc. (lots of etc.s). She was never institutionalized by the PhotoShop interface, therefore she was a blank slate. She picked up GIMP and now in 2 weeks is creating graphics for her friend’s web pages. Note: She is a belly dancer, not an engineer.
February 17th, 2008
well ,same as me, i am main work in .NET, but my boss push me start to create some php application, i have try MANY PHP IDE
phped,php designer, netbeans php plug-in, eclipse PDT project, zend studio and more more more~many IDE base on eclipse, the GUI is so messy. finally , i found that php designer 2008 is worst to try. the pro version onlt charge 99$, and it also have a free & lite version.
February 20th, 2008
Quoth Mr. Dennison:
“Note: She is a belly dancer, not an engineer.”
I just had to laugh when I read that. I am a bellydancer, and know several bellydancers who are engineers, and one who has a PhD in physics.
That little jab aside, I came across this blog because I am also seeking a GOOD open-source php IDE. Currently I use Zend Studio Professional (not OS). It mostly meets my needs - I love the fact that it’s cross-platform; I run it on Fedora 7 and WinXP. I wish it supported rsync-over-ssh… (sigh). Its FTP support is marginal. It seems prone to freezing forever if there is a slow network and you are using any network drives or http://FTP.
The code completion, debugging, svn support, snippets, and rapid documentation are very nice.
I wish it would “cloak” files and dirs in a project like Dreamweaver does…
I have tried several of the IDE’s previously mentioned. I did not like NVU at all. It seemed really unstable and did not handle DW templated sites properly.
I am forced to maintain several low-budget DW sites (would take way more time than they are worth to convert them)
March 25th, 2008
Two things…
First, the JavaScript Library is called Scriptaculous (from spectaculous) not Scriptalicious.
Second, Gimp counts! Try this: http://www.gimpshop.com/