Web development IDEs are essential for web developers and programmers. It helps them to code easily and debug websites & web apps. They help the developers manage a large codebase and quickly develop applications. These IDEs use a variety of programming languages, frameworks, CMS, web applications, etc.

Without an IDE, it is extremely difficult for a developer to be productive and perform to the best of their abilities. In its absence, a developer will have to manually select and manage all the tools, while an IDE brings all the tools under a single framework. An IDE helps a developer to be more precise and accurate.

In this article, we discuss the top 15 IDEs like Visual Code Studio, NetBeans, AWS Cloud 9, etc. that developers should know about. We present the key features of these IDEs and how they help programmers code better.

Also read: How to Crack the Front-End Coding Interview

What is an IDE?

An integrated development environment (IDE) is software that you can install on your computer to streamline the web development process. It helps developers code efficiently and increases their productivity by combining capabilities like software editing, building, testing, packaging, etc. in an easy-to-use application.

Some of its key features are:

Compiler or Interpreter: It is an integrated program that translates code into binary language that computers can easily understand. The interpreterâ€™s purpose is to execute code without the need to compile it first.
Debugger: It is an included program in the IDE and tests the code for errors to be resolved later.
Syntax highlighter: It highlights some parts of your code to correspond with elements like properties, tags, attributes, etc.
Graphical user interface (GUI): In simple terms, it is a screen that a human can see and read to navigate and perform different tasks.

Now letâ€™s look at the top 15 web development IDEs.

1. Visual Studio Code (VSC)

The Visual Code Studio web development IDE is one of the most popular IDEs and is the first choice as a text editor among developers. It helps developers to quickly plan, build, and ship software across different platforms.

VSC uses artificial intelligence (AI) that learns from your edits and thus helps you write code faster. In addition, it also allows you to collaborate with your team members live when you are writing your code, allowing them to help you debug quickly. With VSC you can also share terminals, servers, and comments.

The Visual Studio Code is a versatile IDE that supports web, mobile, app, and game development. It also supports languages like Python, ASP.NET, C++, NodeJS, and Azure.

Now, letâ€™s look at some of the key features, benefits, and limitations of VSC:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
Uses agile tools to track and manage all ideas on Kanban or Scrum	Provides seamless integration with different web development tools and languages	The number of options of extensions can be overwhelming for a new developer
Helps improve code quality and catch any issues early on	A vast library of extensions	A steep learning curve can be daunting for beginners
It has a version control system with private repositories	Allows customization to suit the individual workflow of the developer	Some users might become too accustomed to using several extensions
It provides drag & drop interface along with syntax highlighting, error highlighting, and customizable hotkeys	Has an integrated terminal and debugging tools that help streamline the development process	This enhanced functionality can become cumbersome

2. IntelliJ IDEA

It is one of the best IDEs for Java and can be used for HTML, JavaScript, SQL, and other programming languages as well. It reads the code and can automatically add relevant tools related to the context.

Its intelligent coding assistance can also analyze the data flow and thus avoid repetitive statements, thereby automating several tasks. The main purpose of this web development IDE is to boost developerâ€™s productivity, enabling them to perform better and complete their tasks with efficiency and effectiveness.

In addition, this IDE also comes with built-in tools for debugging, testing, and version control. This way it helps simplify the process of developing, maintaining, and deploying web applications. It seamlessly integrates with many of the popular automation tools and CI/CD pipelines.

Letâ€™s take a quick look at the key features, advantages, and disadvantages of IntelliJ IDEA:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It allows using shortcuts, simplifying the workflow of developers	It supports an extensive range of programming languages and web technologies	Its Ultimate Edition, which has the most amount of features, is a paid product
It has an advanced editor, deep code understanding, & other such features	Has advanced coding assistance that helps streamline the development process	It is a resource-hungry web development IDE that can slow down the performance of systems
Provides drag & drop interface in addition to syntax highlighting, customizable themes, and GIT integration	It has integrated debugging, testing, and version control systems	The abundance of features and options can be overwhelming for new users

â€Also read: Top 10 Backend Technologies You Must Know!

3. Atom by GitHub

Atom by GitHub, also known as, Atom, is one of the trending web development IDEs today. It was co-founded and developed by the GitHub community. It has a vast community support making it easier for new developers to get their questions answered and enhance their productivity.

Since it is an open-source text editor, it runs on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. Further, its huge package repository caters to the various needs of the developers.

Its key features, advantages, and limitations are:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It is easy to use and has a simple navigation and user interface	It is highly customizable and has a variety of packages and themes	Because of its open-source nature, it can result in vulnerability and compatibility issues
Provides extensive collaborative support	Suitable to developers with all skill levels	It is resource-intensive
Comes with in-built auto-complete and suggestion features	It has a strong community support	A steep learning curve for beginners

4. NetBeans

It is a free IDE that supports several programming languages. It has been in use since 1997 and now is available in nearly 30 languages. This makes it a widely popular web development IDE in non-English speaking countries as well.

In addition to the web development languages, it also supports C, C++, and Java and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris operating systems.

Letâ€™s explore the key features, advantages, and disadvantages of NetBeans:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
Has a rich plugin support	Broad language support	It does not offer deep integration with some languages
It has in-built source code highlighting and refactoring	Has a user-friendly interface	The interface sometimes feels outdated compared to modern IDEs
It allows drag-and-drop for rapidly developing code	Comes with integrated coding, debugging, and version control tools	It is resource-intensive which affects the performance of older and less powerful machines

5. Eclipse

Eclipse is a free web development IDE that you can use for web development and other programming goals. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems thereby allowing you to combine different languages. You can also combine its different features into its default packages, allowing for limitless customization and extensions.

With its support for several plugins, it has become a formidable tool in web development and supports languages such as JavaScript, PHP, HTML, etc. You can customize the IDE to suit almost all of your development needs.

Letâ€™s look at its key features, benefits, and limitations:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It has an in-built debugger	Highly customizable	The interface is slightly outdated as compared to modern IDEs
Has an extensive programming language support	Strong support for Java and Java-based web-applications	Setting up and configuring the IDE can be time-consuming for new users
Contains a fast compiler	It has a large and active community that provides extensive support & resources	The abundance of features can be overwhelming for beginners

Also read: Difference Between C and C++: Examples and Features

6. Sublime Text 3

This paid web development IDE is very popular among developers today. It comes integrated with several tools and provides extensive support for many programming languages like Python, C, etc.

It runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS operating systems and is a sophisticated source code editor. This IDE is widely popular for its speed and efficiency and supports a wide range of web technologies making it perfect for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript projects.

It is lightweight and comes with a fast editor that makes it user-friendly. This makes it incredibly useful for developers when working on large projects. It provides the developers with a distraction-free environment to code in by providing a clean and uncluttered design. As a result, it helps improve the productivity and performance of the developers.

The following are some of its key features, benefits, and limitations:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
Comes with autocomplete and suggestions feature in-built	It emphasizes speed and efficiency	Purchasing a license is necessary to use this web development IDE
It has a highly customizable editor	It comes with a clean and minimalistic interface that reduces distraction and increases focus	There are only a few limited built-in features as compared to some other editors
It has a vast plugin repository	It can be customized by using different plugins	There is a steep learning curve initially

7. PyCharm

It is one of the best web development IDEs for Python. However, it supports other programming languages like CSS, HTML, etc. for web development. It is best known for helping developers create back-end projects. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems.

Right out of the box, it provides integrated unit testers, code analysis, and graphical debugger thereby helping minimize the workload on developers and making them more efficient and effective.

Letâ€™s dive into the key features, benefits, and limitations of using PyCharm as your web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It can be integrated easily with Git, Mercurial, and SVN	It is specifically tailored for Python and thus provides an optimized environment for Python-based web development	Its Professional edition provides more features and functionality but comes with a paid subscription
It can be easily customized as per the developerâ€™s needs and requirements	Code assistance and quality checks enhance the overall coding experience	It can be resource-intensive affecting the performance of older machines
Has quick code refactoring	Comes with integrated debugging tools, database support, and version control	The abundance of features can be overwhelming

8. Brackets

It is a lightweight, powerful, and lightning-fast web development IDE. It is essentially a source code editor that comes with a set of visual tools. This IDE supports macOS, Windows, and most Linux-based operating systems.

Brackets comes with a user-friendly interface and intuitive navigation and supports programming languages like HTML, CSS, etc. Additionally, it has a wide plug-in support that is free to use.

The following are the key features, advantages, and disadvantages of this web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It has a live preview window for developers to see the live output	Provides live preview feature to enable real-time browser view	Lacks some features necessary for more complex and back-end-focused tasks
Extensive support for plugins	Has a strong pre-processor support	Limited extensions compared to other IDEs like the VSC
Comes with quick-edit features	Comes with an intuitive interface suitable for beginners and experienced developers	Concerns about long-term support and updates

Also read: A Guide to Full Stack Developer Salary in USA

9. WebStorm

Another very popular web development IDE is WebStorm. It is mainly used for developing high-end and sophisticated web applications. It enables the developers to fully utilize the power of the JavaScript ecosystem.

By using this web development IDE, the developers can quickly identify any errors, and make full use of the intelligent code compiler, user-friendly navigation, and many more.

This IDE has been very popular among developers because it supports several programming languages, has several great built-in features, and is easy to use.

Now, letâ€™s look at the key features, benefits, and drawbacks of using this web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It has in-built debugger support and testing capabilities	It is tailored for JavaScript development	Because it is specialized for JavaScript, requires a paid subscription to use with other languages
It auto-detects syntax errors	Comes with intelligent code assistance	Focus on JavaScript limits its appeal for developers using other languages
It can analyze the results to provide the best code companion results	Has powerful in-built tools for debugging, version control, and testing	Has a steep learning curve that can be challenging for new developers and users

10. Notepad++

This web development IDE is very popular among web developers because of its extensibility, being free and open-source. However, this IDE runs only on Windows operating systems and machines which limits its usability significantly.

Its lightweight features help it consume significantly less CPU energy and resources than many of its competitors. In addition, its vast community of developers has developed several plugins to make the coding process simpler and more efficient.

Letâ€™s take a quick look at its main features, advantages, and disadvantages:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It supports syntax highlighting for various programming languages	It is lightweight and starts up very quickly	It does not have robust debugging tools like breakpoints
Developers can open multiple documents simultaneously	Supports a wide variety of programming languages	A lag can be seen when working with large files
It has a powerful search and replace functionality	Since it is free and open-source, it is cost-effective for the developers	It does not have any collaboration features

11. XCode

The XCode web development IDE has several built-in features and tools that help developers code effectively and write efficient code to build robust applications.

It can be integrated with different platforms to develop strong and effective applications.

Letâ€™s look at the main features, benefits, and limitations of this web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It takes advantage of the LLVM compiler	Comes integrated with Swift and Git	Gives a lot of errors and is not easy to handle for freshers
Comes with an interface builder	Has very fast and accurate simulators	Can be confusing for first-time users
It provides several tools useful for web development	Strong community support	Lack of autocomplete

Also read: What is Full Stack Development

12. AWS Cloud9

It is a cloud-based web development IDE owned by Amazon and runs only on an AWS account.

It is not a native IDE because it runs on the cloud. To run and use this IDE, developers need to have a robust internet connection throughout the coding session. Using this integrated development environment is easy because only a browser is needed and can be used from anywhere with a strong network.

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It comes with automatic code-completion capabilities	It is fully based on the cloud offering flexibility and ease of access	Requires constant internet connection and could become a limitation in areas with limited connectivity
Vast plugin support	It has direct integration with AWS services	Does not offer deep integration with non-ASW services
It has an in-built debugger and terminal that supports UNIX-like commands for the developer	Provides real-time collaboration to enhance the teamâ€™s productivity	Its interface and functionalities are different than other traditional IDEs

13. Light Table

It is a new IDE than those on this list and is mostly popular for providing developers with a clutter-free coding environment.

It has been designed to improve the overall web development experience of the developers through real-time feedback and interactive features. It is best known for its minimalistic and intuitive interface that allows developers to see the results of their code and the changes they make to it in real time.

Below are some of the key features, benefits, and limitations of using this web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It can be customized easily	Provides real-time and immediate feedback	There is very limited community support
It comes with a smart autocomplete feature	The code can be evaluated in-line, allowing the developers to test and debug their code	The development and updates are very slow
It is lightweight and faster in processing	It is highly extensible and comes with a wide range of plug-ins	Very limited features are available for this web development IDE

14. RJTextED

RJTextED is a powerful Unicode text and source code editor capable of handling UTF-8 and ASCII files quickly and easily. It supports all the major programming & development languages and comes with a wide variety of features that help developers code better.

It provides a wide variety of features in addition to auto compilation, spell checking, and HTML validation, making it a powerful IDE for developers.

Letâ€™s take a quick look at the key features, benefits, and limitations of using RJTextED web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
It contains a discount map feature	It has a comprehensive set of features like syntax highlighting, code folding, etc.	There is a steep learning curve to using this IDE
It has smart sorting	This IDE has in-built FTP and SFTP support	Developers can sometimes face performance issues
Can handle ASCII and binary files	It provides a very powerful search and replace functionalities	The interface can seem dated as compared to modern IDEs

15. Code::Blocks

Code::Blocks is a lightweight and powerful web development IDE. It is mainly used for C, C++, and Fortran development, but is equally capable in web development as well. Developers can make use of the extensive plugin support that this IDE has to write better code.

It is a cross-platform IDE that can run on Windows, macOS, and Linux distributions while offering consistent and customizable environments for the developers.

The following are the main features, advantages, and disadvantages of using this web development IDE:

Features	Advantages	Disadvantages
Comes equipped with several compilers	It runs on multiple operating systems	It has an outdated user interface
It can perform code refactoring and code folding	It is extensible by using different plugins	Has limited features as compared to modern IDEs
Has an easy user interface	Comes with an integrated debugger	The quality and availability of plugins can vary

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FAQs: Web Development IDEs

What is the Main Advantage of Using an IDE for Web Development?
Using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for web development offers several advantages.Â One of the main benefits is that it streamlines the development process by providing a unified platform for coding, debugging, testing, and managing projects. This integration enhances productivity, reduces errors, and allows developers to focus more on writing efficient code.

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Related reads:

Top 15 Web Development IDEs You Should Know

What is an IDE?

1. Visual Studio Code (VSC)

2. IntelliJ IDEA

3. Atom by GitHub

4. NetBeans

5. Eclipse

6. Sublime Text 3

7. PyCharm

8. Brackets

9. WebStorm

10. Notepad++

11. XCode

12. AWS Cloud9

13. Light Table

14. RJTextED

15. Code::Blocks

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FAQs: Web Development IDEs

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