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VS Code VS TextWrangler

Compare VS Code VS TextWrangler and see what are their differences

VS Code logo VS Code

Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

TextWrangler logo TextWrangler

TextWrangler is a very capable text editor. What sets BBEdit apart is its extensive professional feature set including Web authoring capabilities and software development tools.
  • VS Code Landing page
    Landing page //
    2024-10-09
  • TextWrangler Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-10

VS Code features and specs

  • Cross-platform
    VS Code works on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing a consistent development experience across different operating systems.
  • Extensibility
    A vast library of extensions allows users to add functionalities like debuggers, linters, and themes, making it highly customizable.
  • Integrated Git
    Built-in Git integration makes it easy to manage version control tasks directly within the editor.
  • Performance
    Lightweight compared to full-fledged IDEs, ensuring good performance even on systems with limited resources.
  • IntelliSense
    Advanced code completion and refactoring tools help improve coding efficiency and reduce errors.
  • Community Support
    A strong and active community provides extensive support, tutorials, and third-party extensions.
  • Debugging
    Robust debugging tools for various languages and frameworks are available out of the box.
  • Free and Open-Source
    VS Code is completely free to use and open-source, which is beneficial for both individual developers and organizations.

Possible disadvantages of VS Code

  • Limited IDE Features
    While extensible, it may lack some advanced features found in dedicated IDEs out of the box.
  • Extension Management
    Managing and configuring a large number of extensions can become cumbersome and sometimes lead to performance issues.
  • Learning Curve
    Although user-friendly, it has a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its numerous features and customization options.
  • Memory Usage
    Despite being lightweight, it can consume a significant amount of memory when multiple extensions are installed.
  • Update Frequency
    Frequent updates may sometimes introduce bugs or require users to adapt to new changes quickly.
  • Internet Dependency
    Some features and extensions may require an internet connection to function optimally.
  • Telemetry
    By default, VS Code collects usage data, which might be a concern for users sensitive about data privacy. However, this can be disabled.

TextWrangler features and specs

  • Free
    TextWrangler is available for free, which makes it accessible to a wide range of users without any financial investment.
  • Lightweight
    TextWrangler is lightweight and runs efficiently, which means it doesn't require significant system resources and can run smoothly even on older computers.
  • Syntax Highlighting
    The editor supports syntax highlighting for a variety of programming languages, which helps developers easily read and understand code.
  • File Comparison
    TextWrangler includes a robust file comparison feature that allows users to easily spot differences between files, which can be useful for code reviews and version control.
  • Search and Replace
    The advanced search and replace functionality, including multi-file search, allows users to quickly and efficiently manage large codebases.

Possible disadvantages of TextWrangler

  • Mac Only
    TextWrangler is available only for macOS, which means it cannot be used on other operating systems such as Windows or Linux.
  • Limited Features
    Compared to more advanced code editors and integrated development environments (IDEs), TextWrangler lacks some features such as integrated debugging, autocomplete, and extensive plugin support.
  • No Longer Developed
    As of March 2017, TextWrangler has been discontinued and is no longer being updated. Users are encouraged to switch to BBEdit, which is also from Bare Bones Software.
  • Basic User Interface
    The user interface is quite basic and may not appeal to users who prefer more modern and customizable interfaces.
  • Limited Language Support
    While it offers syntax highlighting for many languages, it does not support as many programming languages and frameworks as some more comprehensive IDEs.

VS Code videos

My New Favorite Text Editor - Visual Studio Code

More videos:

  • Review - 7 reasons why I switched to Visual Studio Code from Sublime Text

TextWrangler videos

creating first website page with an html editor : TextWrangler

More videos:

  • Review - 11: NetBeans and TextWrangler - programming tools for Mac OS X

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VS Code and TextWrangler)
Text Editors
97 97%
3% 3
IDE
97 97%
3% 3
Developer Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Software Development
96 96%
4% 4

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare VS Code and TextWrangler

VS Code Reviews

  1. dksinden
    · Working at SpeechKit ·

Boost Your Productivity with These Top Text Editors and IDEs
Visual Studio Code, commonly known as VS Code, is a powerful and extensible code editor developed by Microsoft. With its rich ecosystem of extensions and features like IntelliSense, debugging, and Git integration, VS Code enhances your coding productivity.
Source: convesio.com
13 Best Text Editors to Speed up Your Workflow
Finally, the Visual Studio Code website has numerous tabs for you to learn about the software. The documentation page walks you through steps like the setup and working with different languages. You’re also able to check out some tips and tricks and learn all of the Visual Studio Code keyboard shortcuts. Along with a blog, updates page, extensions library and API...
Source: kinsta.com
Jupyter Notebook & 10 Alternatives: Data Notebook Review [2023]
Previously, VS Code was more suited to developers or engineers due to its lack of data analysis capabilities, but since 2020, the VS Code team has collaborated with the Jupyter team to create an integrated notebook within VS Code. The end result is a fantastic IDE workbook for data analysis.
Source: lakefs.io
The Best IDEs for Java Development: A Comparative Analysis
Overview: Although not a traditional IDE, VS Code has gained popularity as a lightweight code editor.
Source: dev.to
20 Best Diff Tools to Compare File Contents on Linux
Visual studio code is a code editor made by Microsoft. It supports several development operations like debugging, task running, and version control. It works on Linux, macOS and Windows operating systems.
Source: linuxopsys.com

TextWrangler Reviews

We have no reviews of TextWrangler yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VS Code seems to be a lot more popular than TextWrangler. While we know about 1144 links to VS Code, we've tracked only 1 mention of TextWrangler. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

VS Code mentions (1144)

  • #The Chronicles of Sam: 10,000 Hours to Say “Hi” Automatically 💬
    Somewhere between enabling CORS and accidentally enabling IAM authentication, Sam backed out slowly and did what all developers eventually do when faced with AWS UI: They closed the tab and opened [VSCode 🖥️].(https://code.visualstudio.com/). - Source: dev.to / 5 days ago
  • Build Python Docker Development Environment on Win11 from Scratch
    Download VSCode through the following URL Https://code.visualstudio.com/. - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • How to Handle File Uploads with Node.js and Express - Multer Edition
    A text editor or lightweight IDE such as Visual Studio Code. - Source: dev.to / 12 days ago
  • What's Happening in Developer Tools? (OpenAI Just Bought Windsurf for $3B)
    Microsoft's Visual Studio Code is a free code editor that relies on community plugins for support across various languages and frameworks. It also has an AI offering, Copilot, that provides code completion and it just added its own agent. VSCode supports multiple LLMs, but initially, there seemed to be a preference for ChatGPT, in part given its early lead and no doubt influenced by the fact Microsoft was an early... - Source: dev.to / 16 days ago
  • Your first MCP Server (quick)
    Explore different MCP Clients too! You can continue using ollmcp as we did earlier, or try other clients like Claude Desktop, Visual Studio Code, and more to see how different environments interact with your server. - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
View more

TextWrangler mentions (1)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VS Code and TextWrangler, you can also consider the following products

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

Vim - Highly configurable text editor built to enable efficient text editing

UltraEdit - UltraCompare is the name of an advanced level of file and folder comparison platform that is loaded with an advanced level of features and functions.

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

IntelliJ IDEA - Capable and Ergonomic IDE for JVM

Eclipse IoT - Eclipse IoT provides the technology needed to build IoT Devices, Gateways, and Cloud Platforms.