Coda vs. Komodo – which is the best editor?

by Stii

codavskomodo
Let me start by stating:

Coda = $99 vs. Komodo Edit = Free & Open Source

Coda is Mac only, while Komodo supports Mac, Windows and Linux!

There are a lot of great code editors for OS X if you are willing to pay. If you develop, it is vital that you are happy with your environment and that you feel comfortable with it. I don’t want a big heavy toolbox that can install the entire kitchen plus the kitchen sink. I’m quite happy with writing command line scripts to deploy changes rather than have an IDE do it for me. I don’t really like code insight. I don’t care much for code completion. I’m a simple guy, enjoying simple things.

We bought Coda last year. It is IMHO one of the best editors. I know Textmate is also pretty decent, but we cannot go pay for all editors now can we? Simply wouldn’t make sense.

Thing is, Coda doesn’t fit like a glove for Python. Somehow it does not honor the settings “spaces instead of tabs” properly. If you write Python, that’s a big, big thing! Komodo on the other hand, does it brilliantly. It converts tabs to spaces as it should.

I like quick access to my source files. A file system tree in the sidebar is a big, big thing. I need to be able to quickly access my files without much effort. Coda has a fantastic file system browser in the side bar. It supports one click opens, which is even better! Komodo, does not have such a file system browser, but if you create a komodo project and drop the project file in a directory, it will give you the same access to the files, though you have to double click. Lazy, I know ;)

On that note, something I really, really, REALLY love about Komodo is that if you are in a file and you hit ⌘+ O it opens the filesystem dialog in the directory that that file you’re on is. Coda opens the directory that you were in last. Funny, but you don’t even know what a great feature this is until you experience it!

Coda has built in SVN integration. Now, I prefer to run commands on the command line. I write deploy scripts and Python Fabric recipes. So this is not critical, but what I do like about this is that if you create a new file in Coda, it already adds it to your repository. You don’t have to do a svn add /path/to/file on the command line, which saves you a bit of time. It is not a deal breaker, but a nice to have.

The really cool thing about Komodo Edit is the VIM key bindings. This is done brilliantly by them. Coda does not support this which is a pity. If you love VIM you would love the VIM key bindings in Komodo Edit. Really kudos to the Activestate development team. Now, I know there are lots of other editors that does this, but I’ve never really liked it much as it always kind of gets in the way some way or another. With Komodo it simply feels right! For the Emacs dudes, they support that as well.

Coda has some other great features like a built in terminal, easy find in files (which is very handy at times), spotlight-like open if you hit Control + Q (don’t hit ⌘ + Q, it is not exactly the same thing now…).

Both has plugins and the ability for developers to create their own plugins. Komodo does their plugins similar to Firefox using XUL and XPCOM, which makes it easier if you have developed Firefox plugins before.

Komodo has code folding, which Coda doesn’t have. I like folding code :)

Coda allows you to share a file and collaborate on it. This is quite a handy feature! We’ve used it quite a couple of times, believe it or not!

Both are excellent editors. Considering the price tags, I’d say Komodo is a clear winner by a long shot. However, I will not abandon Coda just yet… There are some things that does make it very, very useful… If only these dudes could mix and match their features. That would be great!