Brackets – Free Code Editor for Web Developers

Brackets (link) is a free, open source code editor for HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This is my review and why I think it is worth checking out if you are a web designer or web developer.

For a long time I’ve used Dreamweaver to develop my websites. The long loading times were tolerable but having to save and refresh the page in chrome was a tedious process. But when I discovered Brackets… that all changed.

Features that stand out in Brackets

This code editor tool gives you a live preview of your code as you type it, without even saving it. It’s like developer tools for chrome without having to copy and paste your changes back into your file.

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Not only that, but going into the main .css file, locating the specific class/ID, making changes, then going back into the HTML file was a long process as well. With Brackets, you can use CTRL/CMD + E over a specific tag and view its CSS rules without going into the .css file at all.

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You can also hover over an img tag and the image and its dimensions will pop up in a little box above your cursor. This also works with HEX and RGB values for colors most of us haven’t memorized (eg. hovering over #4893EE shows a blue color).

Since it’s open-source, many web developers have made plugins for the program to add even more features.

Overall, I recommend this to any web developer wanting a free, light and simple code editing tool.

Video Review