1. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (aka VS Code) is a product of Microsoft. It’s important to not mix this up with Visual Studio that is mainly aimed at .NET development.

This is one of the best IDEs that I have come across. I’m sure that most of you must have hands-on experience with this IDE. It is very powerful and rich in features and most of all, it is free to use.

Even though most developers may have used VS Code, not everyone knows the powerful features it has. Therefore, let’s look at a few. You can figure out what you have been missing all these years.

Visual Studio Code has,

• Support for multiple languages (JavaScript, TypeScript, etc.). Custom extensions can be installed on this to support ecosystems of C#, C++, Python, etc.
• Syntax highlighting
• Auto-complete with IntelliSense
• Capabilities to debug code by attaching running apps and including breakpoints
• Shortcuts to make coding efficient
• A marketplace with extensions to support many extra functionalities (E.g.- Docker extensions)
• Integration capabilities with Visual Studio Code Online
• Version controlling via extensions

Moreover, Visual Studio Code has easy remote collaboration. This is achieved via a service called Live Share which is provided by Microsoft. You can invite developers to work on your project together and you can edit the same files at the same time. You can even see the other person’s cursor on the file.

Pretty cool isn't it? 😃

There are few negative points to note about VS Code as well.

• If you are coding in a language other than JavaScript, you might have to spend some time and effort to set up the environment for it.
• Since this is built on Chrome, it uses a lot of memory.

However, cons aside, this is one of the topmost IDEs for JavaScript development and you should definitely check it out if you haven't already.

2. Atom

Atom is an open-source IDE that gained a lot of traction before the introduction of Visual Studio Code. It is backed by GitHub which was another reason for it to become very popular. Atom is an Electron application.

Atom is similar to VS Code in many ways. It supports Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is free to use and is under the MIT license. It also has auto code completion, supports multiple projects and multiple section editing, etc.

One disadvantage of Atom is that it is slower than VS Code. This is because Atom provides most features through extensions as opposed to the in-built features VS Code has.

However, all-in-all, Atom is a feature-rich customizable IDE of the 21st century.

3. WebStorm

If you have been in the software industry for a while, there is no doubt you’ve heard of the IDE development company JetBrains. WebStorm is also a product of JetBrains which is focused on JavaScript development.

It supports many technologies and languages such as JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Angular JS, TypeScript, Node.js, Meteor, ECMAScript, React, Vue.js, Cordova, etc. WebStorm is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Some of the main features of WebStorm are as follows.

• Intelligent Code Completion
• Multi-line todos
• Automated refactoring of code
• Debugger
• Syntax error detection
• Unit testing
• Convert to variables with arrow functions
• Integration with VCS (Veritas Cluster Server)
• Parameter hints
• Git integration

In comparison with VS Code, WebStorm also has a lot of shortcuts which makes coding easier and faster. It sums down to a personal choice of what you have gotten used to over the years.

However, one major disadvantage of this IDE is that it is proprietary software. You will have to purchase a license to use WebStorm in your day-to-day coding. However, JetBrains allows you to obtain WebStorm for free in few scenarios such as Student Pack and for Open Source Projects.