Geany

Pros

• A lightweight IDE and text editor with a huge amount of customization options
• Completely free to use and flexible due to its open source nature

Cons

• Base version is possibly too stripped down for some users

Geany is one of the best text editors around, and the wide range of languages it offers compatibility with make it versatile regardless of what format you're working in. There are a lot of text editors on the market, but what distinguishes a great editor from a decent one is its flexibility. Every coder works differently, and a fundamentally sound editor offers a level of customization that can suit all of these different working styles. Geany accomplishes that well, toeing the line carefully between a text editor and a full-blown IDE and letting both experienced and aspiring developers create a platform that suits their needs perfectly.

For those unfamiliar, an IDE (or integrated development platform) is an all in one tool designed to expedite the process of writing, implementing, and deploying code. You wouldn't know it from a first glance. Geany at its most basic looks just like a traditional text editor like Notebook++. A stripped down text editing interface is supplemented by pull down menus that allow you to designate features like line strip, determine the coloring features for components of your code, and adjust your syntax to suit dozens of different languages. It's also free and completely open source. That means that you won't have to make any upfront or long term investment to make use of all of the features, but you'll also have access to a number of different plug-ins and extensions created by the enthusiastic fan community.

It's an editor fundamentally modular in nature. That deceptively simply interface you'll experience when you first load up the program gives way to a huge number of options once you start to really dig in. A simple package editor means that you don't need to jump through a bunch of different hoops to add the features in that interest you. Even the most novice developer can jump right in and get the components they need in a matter of minutes. These plugins range wildly in terms of what they can do. Add markdown language, create a system where Geany interacts more directly with your GitHub account, or supplement your projects with a more complex tree browsing structure. You can even implement elements like spellchecker to transform Geany into a meaningful word processor.

There's a reason why all these expansions are handled through plugins. The basic deployment of Geany is swift, lean, and powerful. It takes up little memory on your computer, and developers looking to simply get the fundamentals without having to worry about slowdown or cluttered menus will get everything they need. All the basics are here. You'll find autocomplete features, a built-in terminal, and complex syntax parsing that goes well beyond simple coloring. The search function is also powerful, and the ability to run your terminal with a simple F5 tap is a deceptively wonderful feature.

Pros

• A lightweight IDE and text editor with a huge amount of customization options
• Completely free to use and flexible due to its open source nature

Cons

• Base version is possibly too stripped down for some users