Coding on a Mac? (Just bought my first MacBook)

[ibex333]

So I couldn't resist the temptation, and despite being advised against doing so by many, many people I bought a MacBook Air. I just really wanted to know what it would feel like to code on one.

I am currently learning Javascript, HTML, CSS, and my main PC has always been Windows based, so I am finding it very difficult to transition to a Mac. The thing is supposed to be "easy" but it feels like its fighting me every step of the way. I have no idea how to create folders, how to zip/rar something, and cant understand why there is no Notepad++ for Macs.

Anyway, I got Text Wrangler and after several hours, finally figured out how to expand the usable area where you can write. (was limited to about half of the screen. Very annoying!)

Which text editor do you use for coding? Are there any ways to switch between open windows/apps other than Command+Tab? Any gestures? For example, I need to constantly switch between my HTML and CSS files, and preview in a browser window. Whats the fastest way to do that? Oh, and I am using Mountain Lion, and this is the latest version of a MacBook Air.

Thanks very much!

 

[purbeast0]

check out sublime text editor. it's a really nice editor for coding if you don't need any of the IDE type of stuff.

 

[effowe]

As far as gestures, you should use multiple desktops. For example, do a three finger gesture up on the trackpad and bring the mouse to the top right of the screen. You will be able to create a new desktop here. Three finger swipes left and right on the trackpad will allow you to switch between the different desktops. With this in mind, you can open up Safari with whatever webpage you are currently programming on Desktop 1. You can then open Text Wrangler on Desktop 2. When you save your current HTML/CSS file and want to see the changes in a browser, three finger swipe to the left to Safari, Command+R to refresh, and there you have it.

 

[Tegeril]

Zip: Select items you want compressed, right click, Compress. There are third party applications that handle more formats and can compress with more functionality.
Code Editors: Sublime, Brackets, Coda 2, Espresso, BBEdit, really whichever makes you happiest. The basic "Notepad" is TextEdit and there are probably a ton of other choices at your disposal
Gestures: Explained in System Preferences in the Trackpad pane. You can get more if you use MagicPrefs
Too many windows: Either use the Mission Control gesture or place specific applications in certain Spaces and toggle directly between them
Folders: Command+Shift+N or File -> New Folder

OS X is a fantastic platform to use to develop on the web, so I'm not sure why many people recommended you away from it (or was it the Air specifically)?

Did you get a 13" Air or the 11?

 

[PHYRRO]

Divvy (http://mizage.com/divvy/) + SublimeText with Package Manager add-on and SublimeLinter + LiveReload plugin for Chrome (instant, on-the-fly browser refreshes anytime you make changes to a document so you don't need to manually do it everytime). Add in XAMPP to setup a local web server, and Transmit for any FTP stuff.

<---Codes PHP, CSS, HTML, JS on OSX. That's all I really need/use.

 

[joshhedge]

If you also right click on desktop or in a finder window, you have the option to create a folder.

 

[smackababy]

Anyone have any experience Java coding on a mac? I have been eyeing a rMBP to code with, but haven't met anyone using one.

 

[purbeast0]

Anyone have any experience Java coding on a mac? I have been eyeing a rMBP to code with, but haven't met anyone using one.

i have experience coding java on linux and windows, and use netbeans for both. it's available for osx so if i were to do java on mac, netbeans it would be.

oh, and whatever you do, steer clear of xcode. i haven't used it in over a year but i'm sure it hasn't changed much. such a terrible terrible ide. i hate that you have to use it to make ios apps.

 

[sourceninja]

textmate, coda, vagrant, and some virtualization is all you need.

 

[Tegeril]

i have experience coding java on linux and windows, and use netbeans for both. it's available for osx so if i were to do java on mac, netbeans it would be.

oh, and whatever you do, steer clear of xcode. i haven't used it in over a year but i'm sure it hasn't changed much. such a terrible terrible ide. i hate that you have to use it to make ios apps.

Did you use it prior to Xcode 4? It did change for the better, though is still... interesting.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Did you use it prior to Xcode 4? It did change for the better, though is still... interesting.

I'm using the latest version and it's still terrible. The built in subversion client is completely useless and I'm lucky if the entire IDE doesn't lock up and crash at least once a day.

The one good thing I can say about it is the auto complete is really good for Objective C but then again it should be.

 

[Tegeril]

I'm using the latest version and it's still terrible. The built in subversion client is completely useless and I'm lucky if the entire IDE doesn't lock up and crash at least once a day.

The one good thing I can say about it is the auto complete is really good for Objective C but then again it should be.

I have had a few crashes here and there, and I have only used it with Git and it accomplishes basic stuff fine (I'd use a more specialized client if I needed to do something more complex or the command line).

I do love the autocomplete, it's not all bad

 

[JavaMomma]

I use:
TextWrangler for SQL and scratch work.
VIM for scripts / edits from the CL
PyCharm/IntelliJ/Webstrom - Actual Development - Pretty darn good, really like there products
XCode for Objective-C /iOS Development, it's decent

I've been meaning to give Sublime a try, hear it is good. Heavy Visual Studio user in the past, can't stand Eclipse used it for a month before switching to JetBrains products. I had experience using JetBrains Resharper for Visual Studio and really liked it so I was happy to try out their IDE.

 

[ibex333]

OS X is a fantastic platform to use to develop on the web, so I'm not sure why many people recommended you away from it (or was it the Air specifically)?

Did you get a 13" Air or the 11?

It was OS X, mainly because many think it would be very hard to adapt to the new environment, and time would be wasted t olearn a new OS vs. spending that same time for more coding. ; )

I got the 13" Air. 11" was just too small. I couldnt see myself using something this small for anything other than browsing the net, checking mail or watching movies.


Thanks everyone who replied. Lots of very helpful advice. I think I'm getting better at this.

Maily I am interested in FREE code editors that have at least the functionality which highlights certain pieces of code like elements, functions, etc so that you can tell when you forgot to put a ";" or a closing curly bracket or whatever.

 

[sourceninja]

http://macromates.com/download get the 2.0 version. It's now open source so if you don't want to pay you can always compile it yourself. Best damn text editor for programming I've ever used.

 

[smackababy]

It was OS X, mainly because many think it would be very hard to adapt to the new environment, and time would be wasted t olearn a new OS vs. spending that same time for more coding. ; )

I got the 13" Air. 11" was just too small. I couldnt see myself using something this small for anything other than browsing the net, checking mail or watching movies.


Thanks everyone who replied. Lots of very helpful advice. I think I'm getting better at this.

Maily I am interested in FREE code editors that have at least the functionality which highlights certain pieces of code like elements, functions, etc so that you can tell when you forgot to put a ";" or a closing curly bracket or whatever.

A lot of people don't like it, but I use eclipse on PC and would probably use it on Mac as well. But I also develop Java and use a WebSphere application server. Not a lot of free IDEs offer functionality with WebSphere. The free version of eclipse isn't as bad as people want to make it out to be.