Code Editors, IDEs and Live Previewers for OS X

Aptana Studio 3 
A free development IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for the web. If you are interested in cross-platform app development this might be the one for you since it is now developed and owned by Appcelerator. Similar to NetBeans in approach - especially with the extensive on-demand code dictionary - although not as easy on the eye (using default settings) and not as intuitive in all areas.

BBEdit
This is often the editor of choice. It has code completion and a good range of practical tools.

Coda
Nice crisp layout, and it is a little easier and more intuitive to begin with than BBEdit. Whether this warrants its price tag (around twice that of BBEdit) is a question that only personal choice can answer.

CodeRunner
This is a new app for writing and running all kinds of code. It is available on the Mac App Store and is currently very popular.

Dashcode
This is free and comes bundled with Xcode. It is designed to create web apps for Safari and Mobile Safari (as well as Widgets), and it does all the work of programming for iPhone and iPad and the different layouts available. A good framework for the modern world of mobile computing since iOS is such a dominant player.

Eclipse
One of the main reasons for choosing to learn and use Eclipse must be that it is the recommended platform for the development of Android apps. You can download all types of versions. The Classic one is a Java environment, but you can add the PHP tools by visiting the Help -> Install New Software... menu item. From here you will taken to an Available Software window and need to select Indigo from the "Work with:" menu. In the search box beneath this menu type PHP or PDT and then select and install PHP Development Tools (PDT) SDK Feature. (Note: you will also need to configure the PHP Server in the Eclipse - > Preferences... menu to suit your project environment.)

EditRocket
I love the sidekick bar, but autocompletion seems absent. It has a lot of utilities for building code, like Javascript and PHP. And is ultimately a budget IDE that is slightly Windows-esque in appearance, but a tempting choice for those who like a powerful range of snippets rather than autocompletion.

HyperEdit
This isn't a fully-blown IDE, but it is great for learning and trying out PHP with a live preview because you don't need to get locked into creating a full project. No code completion, although snippets available (a few to begin, but mainly up to the user to create).

Komodo
Preview in program window and autocompletion of code included. Supports an almost endless range of languages including XSLT, but not sure whether the autocompletion exists for all of these. Advertised as "The Professional IDE for Python, PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, Perl and Web Development".


NetBeans
NetBeans is intuitive yet complex and is a great IDE. It would be the number one choice were it not that Eclipse had been priveleged by Google for Android development.

PHPStorm 3.0
I haven't spent much time with this editor. It is clean and attractive in appearance but I haven't been able to work in the way I would like as quickly as I would like.

Serna
Serna is an open source XML editor. There are free and enterprise versions. It is an alternative to OxygenXML and includes DocBook support.

TacoHTML
Despite its name this program does support PHP previewing. The component library is also an interesting feature. It doesn't autocomplete, but does have a series of menu options for building meta tags and so on.

TextMate
A code editor that lets you run everything from PHP to Xcode. It isn't an IDE or a live previewer, and autocompletion isn't automatically implemented in the same way as NetBeans or Aptana Studio, but it does possess power in other areas and when you run PHP for example it will show you the full HTML source of the output generated.


UltraEdit
Visually appealing, it centres itself on accessing websites for information about coding languages. The helpful buttons add local css formatting rather than gearing themselves towards separate CSS files to be accessed by multiple pages. There is also no autocompletion and no built in code dictionaries, only highlighting. I do like the file view options though, which make it feel less like you are locked into the project and out of the regular files on your system (something that it shares with Coda). But ultimately not for the intermediate to advanced coder.


Webbed
New to the Mac App Store, the developer plans to release a trial version through their website soon.


Zend Studio 9
This is the most expensive IDE listed here. It looks very similar to Aptana Studio and Eclipse in its layout and buttons. And this similarity is evident also in the menu items. The difference that immediately strikes you, however, is that it features the choice to install a whole host of plug-ins ranging from Amazon to Zen Coding. It might therefore be for you if your needs stretch beyond the capabilities Eclipse.

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