Preface
One of the first questions asked when someone learns to code is, What editor should I use?
It is not a question easily answered. There are purists who believe you should only code with SimpleText or TextWrangler, but there are also those who prefer the many features of Dreamweaver. For those who also need to use the command line, the debate about vi and Emacs rages on. In addition, robust GUI editors such as TextMate and Sublime Text have taken the development world by storm.
Your personal preferences, your workflow, your code, your designs, your walletits all about you, baby. And that is why the question isnt easily answered.
As someone who considers himself a designer first with a splash of developer mixed in, Ive found its good to play around with different types of tools to see what you like best. I like Dreamweaver for some things and Sublime Text for others. Ive even been known to dabble in a plain-text editor from time to time.
Ultimately, my primary tool is Panics Coda.
Panic has earned a reputation for making fantastic software that works great. I first heard about Panic when I was shopping around for an FTP client, and purchased Transmit. That became the gateway to Coda, and Ive been a fan ever since.
What I like most about Coda is its focus on one-window web development. You dont need to have an editor window open with Terminal off to the side, a separate CSS editor, and another application or Terminal tab for version control. Coda has everything for youits a Swiss Army Knife of web development bundled into one beautiful package.
If youve been to a conference or coffee shop lately, youve likely seen the proliferation of coders out in the wild with their favorite laptops. Codas environment makes excellent use of a laptops reduced screen real estate. No more tweaking and adjusting every little window just right so that you can get in your groove. Just fire up Coda and start coding.
There is no perfect editor, but there are some pretty great ones. For me, Coda is one of the best. Perhaps most importantly, it gives me an answer to the question, Which editor should I use?
Who This Book Is For
Coding with Coda is for designers and developers with some experience under their belt. If youre new to web development, this book isnt for you.
Its preferable for you to have some experience with the command line, but if not, thats OK. In the same vein, experience with CSS is also welcome. If not, dont worry about it. The book will show you how to use the tools, and you can use them when youre ready.
Coda is a Mac-only editor made by Panic, a company that makes Mac- and iOS-only applications. More importantly, this book is for Macintosh users only. Coda isnt free; as of this writing, the app is on sale for $75, normally $99. That said, the download offers a demo so you can give it a solid spin around the block before making a purchasing decision.
What This Book Will Do for You
Coding with Coda is organized in a start-to-finish fashion. To begin, youll run through the basics of Coda 2 and then get started with the initial phases of building a project, or Site .
A chapter is spent on the source control management, how it integrates with Coda, and how you can use the two in your development process. Youll learn to tinker to your hearts delight with the many available preferences, while also getting into the more intricate aspects of using Coda for editing and document collaboration.
Youll wrap up with an overview of constructing a page (no web app building in this book!) and then learn about some extra features to make Coda even more enjoyable to use.
Conventions Used in This Book
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions. Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables, statements, and keywords. Constant width bold
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user. Constant width italic
Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values determined by context.
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Warning
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Using Code Examples
This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, if this book includes code examples, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless youre reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from OReilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your products documentation does require permission.
We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: Coding with Coda by Eric J. Gruber (OReilly). Copyright 2013 Eric J. Gruber, 978-1-449-35609-5.
If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given above, feel free to contact us at .
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