OSX text editor: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 05:23, 3 November 2014

Our recommendation

On Mac OS, we suggest the TexWrangler text editor. You'll have to first download it, then install it.

To download TextWrangler:

Click this link and download the disk image file
The file will expand into an application called TextWrangler.
Open Finder from the bar at the bottom.

To install TextWrangler:

Start Finder
On the left side of the Finder, under "Places", click on "Applications".
Drag the TextWrangler icon to any blank space in that window.

To run TextWrangler:

Start Finder
On the left side of the Finder, under "Places", click on "Applications".
In the middle column, scroll down to to find TextWrangler.
Double-click TextWrangler to launch the editor.

Configure TextWrangler to indent with spaces

Start up TextWrangler, and click TextWrangler -> Preferences dropdown. This will pop up a preferences window.
Click on the "Editor defaults" tab.
Check the "Auto-expand tabs" checkbox.
Set "tab width" to 4 (if it is not already).
Close the Preferences window.

That's it! Now, you can hit tab to indent your code, and that indentation will actually be made of spaces. This change will help you use spaces consistently, so that Python doesn't get confused about whitespace.

Success!

Now you have an editor that you can use to open any text file, including Python programs.

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 == Our recommendation ==
-On Mac OS, we suggest the TexWrangler text editor. You'll have to first download it, then install it.
+On Mac OS, we suggest the [http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/ TexWrangler] text editor. You'll have to first download it, then install it.
 To download TextWrangler:
-* Click [http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/download.html this link and download the ZIP file]
+* Click [http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/download.html this link and download the disk image file]
-* The ZIP file will expand into an application called Smultron.
+* The file will expand into an application called TextWrangler.
 * Open Finder from the bar at the bottom.
-To install Smultron:
+To install TextWrangler:
 * Start Finder
 * On the left side of the Finder, under "Places", click on "Applications".
-* Drag the Smultron icon to any blank space in that window.
+* Drag the TextWrangler icon to any blank space in that window.
-To run Smultron:
+To run TextWrangler:
 * Start Finder
 * On the left side of the Finder, under "Places", click on "Applications".
-* In the middle column, scroll down to to find Smultron.
+* In the middle column, scroll down to to find TextWrangler.
-* Double-click Smultron to launch the editor.
+* Double-click TextWrangler to launch the editor.
 == Configure TextWrangler to indent with spaces ==
-* Start up Smultron, and click Smultron -> Preferences. This will pop up a preferences window.
+* Start up TextWrangler, and click TextWrangler -> Preferences dropdown. This will pop up a preferences window.
-* Click on the Advanced tab, and then on the Really Advanced tab within that tab.
+* Click on the "Editor defaults" tab.
-* Check the "Indent with spaces, not tabs" checkbox
+* Check the "Auto-expand tabs" checkbox.
+* Set "tab width" to 4 (if it is not already).
 * Close the Preferences window.