response 1 of 32:

Dec 10 14:24 UTC 2010

My favorite editor is jEdit  (http://www.jedit.org/), because I can run
it on Linux and Windows, and it has a ton of plug-ins for all kinds of
things, from integrated ssh/scp to syntax checking for different languages.

response 3 of 32:

Dec 10 17:13 UTC 2010

I use JIm's 4K text editor in DOS (or Windows) and pico/nano in linux.
Jim's editor works in Russian, split screen, it prints, etc., and it is
super fast on any PC.  He has an older version for 8086 to 386 too.
Written in assembly language over many years.

response 5 of 32:

Dec 10 18:17 UTC 2010

Acme, sam, wily, TextMate, in that order.
Emacs if I'm programming in Lisp.
Vi if I'm stuck with it (or stuck with a command-line login to Unix).
Ed and "sam -d" for non-interactive, in-place editing of files.

response 7 of 32:

Dec 10 18:55 UTC 2010

:P   http://xkcd.com/378/

response 9 of 32:

Dec 10 19:13 UTC 2010

I like VI 
For word processing, I like WordPad though would LOVE to use NotePad if I
could get it to wrap appropriately.

response 11 of 32:

Dec 10 20:52 UTC 2010

Can't we link this item?

response 13 of 32:

Dec 11 16:52 UTC 2010

Mostly I use the response entry form in Backtalk as my text editor.

Just kidding.

For serious editing work in a Unix environment, mostly vim.  I've been a
vi user for a quarter of a century; the command keystrokes are hardwired
in my brain now.

For larger projects that involve editing multiple files, I'll sometimes
use emacs, but *ONLY* if vi-emulation is turned on.  (See keystrokes
comment above.)

response 15 of 32:

Dec 11 18:22 UTC 2010

I use Vim/gVim as well because I've used vi and vi-work-alikes for
many years now.  As bellstar says, it works on both Unix-likes and
Windows (and Mac) so I can use it on just about any system I'm on in
my normal work day.  It works just fine from a usb drive, as well (see
http://portableapps.com/news/2010-09-20_-_gvim_portable_7.3 for one
such version).

Vim has its own internal scripting language and also can link to other
languages, like perl, python and ruby if compiled with that support,
so those languages can be used to operate on the files being edited.
The GUI version (there are several, including GTK) of vim has pull
down menus, syntax highlighting, built-in diff/compare capabaility,
etc.  You can add your own functions to the menus quite easily.  A
reasonably large community of users has formed around vim and this has
resulted in a lot of scripts, color schemes, usage tips, etc.  See
http://www.vim.org/ which is also the place to get the latest version.

The classic Internet editor war is between emacs and vi and there's
really no winner, although some people find ways of counting users to
show their editor is the winner.  The most useful position is use what
you like and what you can effectively use to do your work.

In the last 10 years many other editors have been developed that are
also usable.  At the same time, some editor projects cease development
if they don't get enough support. Thus, it can be quite confusing
looking at editors if you don't have a favorite already, and you can
spend a lot of time finding one you like.  There's quite often some
feature you'd like to have that's not in your current editor & that
leads you to try something else.  And of course, if you work for someone
else, you possibly are required to use an editor that is different from
what you like.  This is where having an editor that will run off a usb
drive is handy, if there is no prohibition against that form of usage.

A lot depends on how you got started in computing, whether on command
line or GUI or Windows/Mac or Unix.  Not all editors are cross-platform,
so if that is a criterion for you, you'll be somewhat limited in your
choice of a single editor (else, you'll switch editors when you switch
platforms which can be confusing).

response 17 of 32:

Dec 11 22:06 UTC 2010

resp:13 I thought you were an emacs user?

resp:15 I agree completely: the right tool for the right job.  Frankly,
I've always found it a little silly that people get into religious arguments
about things like text editors.

response 19 of 32:

Dec 12 04:27 UTC 2010

Vim has its own scripting language called, as you might think, Vim
Script.  It can be used to control the editor.  It's actually a pretty
full programming language, including variables, loops, functions, and
if/else logic.  It is also the language used in your .vimrc/.gvimrc
files.

vim script looks something like this:

    :echo "*** Running SAS..." 
    let returntxt = system("/usr/local/sas -nodms " .
    shellescape(expand("%:p")))

The last two lines should be all one line and come from a vim script
function I wrote for running SAS on the file being edited.  Run vim
and do :help usr_41.

Also there are commands built in when you compile vim with support for
a given language, say perl.  Thus, you can execute perl commands on the
buffer being edited (and btw, Vim/gVim have tabbed editing and multiple
buffer/file capability so you can switch buffers and stuff like that). 

A couple commands are :pe[rl] {cmd} and :[range]perld[o] {cmd}.  For
example, :perl VIM::Msg("hello world") will print the message (at the
bottom of the screen)--from the vim help.  Or :perldo s/My stuff/Your
stuff/ (which goes through every line of the current buffer and does
the perl command (perldo) s///.  Or :perldo $_ = reverse($_);1 (from
the vim help).  There are something like 32 functions provided, such
as VIM::Msg(), to help run perl commands in vim.  Run vim and do :help
if_perl and the scroll down to Using the Perl interface.

As in vi, in vim you can also call external commands like :r !date or
:!ls or external commands with movement !}sort.

So there are multiple ways to operate on a file being edited.  And if
you don't want to learn anything much about vim script, you can use
perl (or python 2/3, ruby, mzscheme, or lua) or unix commands.  And of
course, the usual vi and ex commands.

response 21 of 32:

Dec 13 15:20 UTC 2010

Aquamacs wasn't to your liking?

response 23 of 32:

Dec 13 16:33 UTC 2010

Huh.  Why not, if I may ask?  I find it's a comfortable environment for things
like that.