A Viable Alternative To Dreamweaver

I used Dreamweaver for years to develop websites. I like the clean layout and abundance of features (like FTP, server side editing, and preview), it seemed like the only alternative for my web designing needs. I couldn't imagine designing without it. Then something happened. Windows 7. I disliked the OS. A lot. Not because it was a POS like Vista, but because it reminded me of the best features found in other operating systems. Gone were the little quirks brought on by "Microsoft's way", but the OS just too darn slick and quite a departure from previous versions. But I digress. The point I'm not making very well is this: my computing needs and wants changed. I went with Linux and never looked back. I tried running Dreamweaver in Wine, but that was not an alternative. The search was on for a new development tool that was more than just an editor and a list of files.

I tried Seamonkey. No joy there. The lack of features turned me off the minute I tried it. Next, I performed a web search and found Aptana Studio (there is a version for Windows as well as Linux). I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, so I installed it. I fell in love immediately. The interface is intuitive, there are plenty of features for shell scripts, XML, CoffeeScript, Capistrano, etc. It natively supports HTML (including HTML 5), CSS, Javascript, and Ruby. It's interface sports the ability to adapt to multiple platforms through the use of bundles. Bundles contain hundreds of commands for platforms such as Drupal, Boxee, Titanium Desktop, Titanium Mobile, JQuery, and Wordpress. It also sports a built-in terminal. Like Dreamweaver, all of my website files are accessible through a left panel, has line numbers, and even a preview function for my html! Other features include debugging, skinnable interface, the ability to open URLs, code completion, code highlighting, among many more. This is the alternative I was seeking.

There are some differences and lack of features I am happy to live with, especially for the price (free). Lack of FTP is really no big deal. I found I prefer a good full featured FTP program to deal with permissions, local directories, and connectivity in general. Lack of automatic table insertion is a pain. I don't use tables often, but when I do typing all of those trs and tds really annoy me.

This IDE is based on Eclipse and is offered as an Eclipse add-on or a stand alone version. I found the Eclipse add-on version to be buggy and not function quite as well as the stand alone version. This IDE has been the perfect alternative to Dreamweaver. I would recommend this application to any web developer looking for an alternative to Dreamweaver, no matter what OS you are using.