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Sublime Text

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Sublime Text
Developer(s)Jon Skinner
Initial releaseJanuary 18, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-01-18)
Stable release
2.0.2 / July 8, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-07-08)
Preview release
3 development build 3053 (beta, registered users only) August 30, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-08-30)
Written inC++, Python
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows 32/64 bit, Mac OS X 10.6 or later, Linux 32/64 bit
Size~5–8 MB (~25 MB for ST3 beta)
LicenseProprietary software[1] Nagware.
Websitewww.sublimetext.com

Sublime Text is a cross-platform text and source code editor, with a Python application programming interface (API). The graphical user interface design was inspired by Vim.[2] Its functionality is also extendable with plugins; Sublime Text is not open source software, nor free software, but most of the extending packages have free-software licenses and are community-built and maintained.

Version 1: Features

Some features included:[3]

Version 2

Sublime Text 2 was released as an alpha on 28 January 2011, and as a beta on 1 July 2011.[4] On 26 June 2012, Sublime Text 2 came out of beta with the release of version 2.0.0.[5] The most recent version, 2.0.2, was released on 8 July 2013.

Language support [6]

Sublime Text supports a number of different programming languages and is able to highlight syntax for ActionScript, AppleScript, ASP, batch files, C, C++, C#, Clojure, CSS, D, Diff, Erlang, Go, Graphviz (DOT), Groovy, Haskell, HTML, Java, JSP, JavaScript, JSON, LaTeX, Lisp, Lua, Makefiles, Markdown, MATLAB, Objective-C, OCaml, Perl, PHP, Python, R, Rails, Regular Expressions, reStructuredText, Ruby, Scala, shell scripts (Bash), SQL, Tcl, Textile, XML, XSL, and YAML. In addition to those that are included with the initial package, users are able to download add-ons to support further languages.

Interface [7]

Themes

  • Sublime Text contains 22 different visual themes, with the option to download additional ones.

Minimap

  • The minimap feature shows the users entire code in the top-right corner of the screen. This allows them to see an outline of the entirety of their code and has functionality to jump between different parts of the file.

Panels, groups and screen modes

  • The program offers a number of screen modes including panels that can show up to four files at once as well as full screen and distraction free modes which only show one file without any of the additional menus around it.

Features[8]

Column selection and multi-select editing

This feature allows users to select entire columns at once or place more than one cursor in text, which allows for simultaneous editing. All cursors then behave as if each of them was the only one in the text. Commands like move by character, move by line, text selection, move by words, move by subwords (CamelCase, hyphen or underscore delimited), move to beginning/end of line etc., affect all cursors independently, allowing one to edit slightly complex repetitive structures quickly without the need to use macros or regex.

Auto completion

A common feature within text editors Sublime Text will offer to complete entries as the user is typing depending on the language being used. It also auto-completes variables created by the user.

Syntax highlight and high contrast display

The dark background on Sublime Text is intended to increase the amount of contrast with the text. As certain types of syntax are highlighted in different colours, these stand out better compared to the background than if it were light.

In-editor code building

This feature allows users to run code for certain languages from within the editor, which eliminates the need to switch out to the command line and back again. This function can also be set to build the code automatically every time the code is saved.

Snippets

This feature allows users to save blocks of frequently used code and assign keywords to them. The user can then type the keyword and press tab to paste the block of code whenever they require it.

Goto anything[9]

This feature is a navigation tool that allows users to move between files and also within them.

Other features[6]

Sublime Text has a number of features in addition to these including Auto save which prevents users from losing their work. Customizable key bindings, a navigational tool which allows users to assign hotkeys to their choice of options in both the menus and the toolbar. The find as you type feature is used to search the document and begins to look for the text being entered as the user types. Similarly the spell check function corrects as you type. Sublime Text offers further automation features including the use of Macros and the ability to repeat the last action.

There is also a wide selection of editing commands, including indenting and unindenting, paragraph reformatting and line joining.

Package manager[10]

Sublime Text can be equipped with a package manager called Package Control that allows the user to find, install, upgrade and remove packages, usually without restarting Sublime Text. The package manager keeps installed packages up-to-date with an auto-upgrade feature and downloads packages from GitHub, BitBucket and a custom JSON-encoded channel/repository system. It also handles updating packages cloned from GitHub and BitBucket via Git and Hg, as well as providing commands for enabling and disabling packages. The package manager also includes a command to bundle any package directory into a .sublime-package file.

The following is a selection of the packages that are available to customise the basic out-of-the-box version of Sublime Text 2:

  • SublimeCodeIntel — Features: Jump to Symbol Definition, allows user to jump to defining symbol. Provides real-time auto-complete information. Function Call Tool-Tips, which displays information in the status bar regarding the current function.[11]
  • Sublime Goto Documentation — This package opens up relevant documentation for the function the user has highlighted. It can be activated both by Key Binding or directly from the command palette.
  • Bracket Highlighter — A package that enhances the basic highlights Sublime Text provides for pair of brackets amongst the users code. The package can be configured with different colored highlights for different types of brackets.
  • Sublime dpaste — This is a package for sharing code snippets among users. By selecting some code in Sublime Text 2 and and hitting ctrl+d the selection is sent to the dpaste.com service. The code can then be accessed via the web and pasted on multiple machines.
  • SublimeLinter — This package is an implementation on the popular code validators, known as linters, for a number of languages such as JavaScript, Objective-J, Perl, PHP, Python and Ruby. It will highlight any code that the linter deems to be invalid, identifying simple typos and invalid code as the user types. The invalid code will be automatically highlighted by the linter, and clicking on the area of invalid code will provide information in the status bar that can identify the error.
  • Side Bar Enhancements — This package provides several enhancements to the Sublime Text 2 sidebar including new options for deleting, opening, moving, new file creation, editing and finding.

Version 3

Version 3 entered beta on 29 January 2013. At first available only for registered users who have purchased Sublime Text 2, on 28 June 2013 it became available to the general public. However, the very latest development builds still require a registration code [12].

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Sublime Text 2 EULA". Sublime HQ Pvt Ltd.
  2. ^ Jon Skinner (30 November 2007). "Anatomy of a Next Generation Text Editor". Sublime Blog. Sublime HQ Pty Ltd. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  3. ^ "Sublime Text: Features". Sublime HQ Pty Ltd. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. ^ Skinner, Jon. "Sublime Text 2". Sublime HQ Pty Ltd. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  5. ^ Skinner, Jon. "Sublime Text 2.0". Sublime HQ Pty Ltd. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  6. ^ a b "Features". 1stwebdesigner. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Interface". 1stwebdesigner. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Features". makeuseof.com. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  9. ^ "Features". thewebdesignbay.com. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Package Control". wbond.net. Retrieved 09 September 2013. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ "Package Manager". rockettheme.com. Retrieved 26 November 2012.
  12. ^ "Sublime Text 3 Dev Builds". Retrieved 9 September 2013.

References

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