SlickEdit - Programmer's Editor

Though most compilers come with a built in IDE, third party tools can make your life easier by providing extra needed functionality. They let you work faster with better editing, powerful macro languages, and better compiler integration.

The best editors are often those written by programmers who use them themselves and know exactly what they want out of an editor.

Getting Started with Slickedit

Slickedit is a cross platform text editor on steroids. Not only Windows, Mac and Linux but add AIX, Solaris, SPARC and IRIX platforms as well. Most versions are under 300 MB in size with the tested Windows version even smaller at 170 MB. Installation did not take very long.

SlickEdit is smart enough to pickup installed compilers when it is first run and gives you the option of importing tags from them. Tags are for smart help, and pick out identifiers (types, classes, and functions, to help when you're writing code.

At under 16 pages long the manual is something of a get you started and the help system is where the real details can be found.

The cool features popup doesn't just explain what each feature does, it lets you visit the Slickedit website and view any or all of the 18 Flash animated walkthroughs with commentary. Seing something done is a great way to learn how to do it.

Features of SlickEdit

A major feature is the integration with the compilers. If you are a Visual C++ 6.0 user then SlickEdit lets you see all the error lines at once after a compiler. Every line with an error has a little red X highlighting it. Move the cursor over the X and you get a list of the errors there. That's quite a time saver.

Refactoring

Refactoring is a term from Java. SlickEdit supports comprehensive refactoring specifically for C++ and quick refactoring for other languages such as C#.

With refactoring you can rename variables, methods and classes, quickly extract code into a new function, change function parameters, move functions up and down between base classes and derived classes and lots more.

Macros

A major part of SlickEdit is the Slick C Macros. Much of the built in functionality in SlickEdit such as the Beautify command, is actually done using Slick C Macros, complete with forms. Macros can be recorded or written and saved out as bytecode and the degree of customization, including form design is just amazing. It is a built in C compiler complete with preprocessor!

Conclusion

This is a very powerful editor, in fact it's more powerful than some IDEs. I think novice developers could be a bit overwhelmed by the many features and the complexity of the Slick C Macro system despite the excellent and detailed help system. That apart, it is fast, powerful and almost limitless in terms of features you can add to it through the macros.

Diffzilla

Also included is DiffZilla, a powerful diff utility that renders Windiff obsolete. It includes merge, an invaluable feature when you need to resolve differences between source code files.

SlickEdit is a powerful piece of software and fully deserves its 5 rating.