views:

7617

answers:

10

Hi,

I'm looking for opinions on the best JavaScript editor available as an Eclipse plugin. I've been using Spket, which is good, but I'm convinced there must be something better out there, is there....?

Cheers, Donal

+1  A: 

Didn't use eclipse for a while, but there are ATF and Aptana.

Nickolay
A: 

I think Aptana Plugin for Eclipse is the best JS Editor for Eclipse now.

Imran
+1  A: 

I've tried Aptana briefly, but it seemed a bit heavyweight for my taste. Maybe I should give it another chance.

Don
+5  A: 

Disclaimer, I work at Aptana. I would point out there are some nice features for JS that you might not get so easily elsewhere. One is plugin-level integration of JS libraries that provide CodeAssist, samples, snippets and easy inclusion of the libraries files into your project; we provide the plugins for many of the more commonly used libraries, including YUI, jQuery, Prototype, dojo and EXT JS.

Second, we have a server-side JavaScript engine called Jaxer that not only lets you run any of your JS code on the server but adds file, database and networking functionality so that you don't have to use a scripting language but can write the entire app in JS.

BillSaysThis
Does Aptana have something like JSEclipse' Content Outline feature? The version I used earlier this year did not.
TomC
Aptana does indeed rock.
Rayne
Hi,I'm afraid I can't agree with the previous comment. I installed Aptana on this threads recommendation and for various reasons I now want to remove it. I've spent 15 minutes trying to figure out how to remove it from my Eclipse 3.4 config with no success - it seems to disable the uninstall buttons - and the only instructions I found on the Aptana site are for an older version of Eclipse. This is pretty frustrating - I would strongly suggest NOT installing Aptana.
stephen mulcahy
Indeed Aptana does not rock (for me anyway). I installed it to edit JS files but found it to be too slow and unresponsive to be of any real use, espcially editing large files. It also seemed to cause performance issues in my other Eclipse plugins. I uninstalled it by reverting my configuration to a point prior to installation.
nick
I was having an issue with the js editor that comes with PDT, (over a mapped drive cut/paste was very laggy/slow). I switched to Aptana and it didn't have that issue, so it has my vote :-). Plus I prefer the Outline view it uses... Cheers everyone.
eSniff
Update: I installed the Beta version of the new Aptana Studio 3 and, just as it promised, the performance issues have been resolved. The new version looks good :)
nick
A: 

Oracle Workshop for WebLogic (formally BEA Workshop) has excellent support for JavaScript and for visually editing HTMLs. It support many servers, not only WebLogic, including Tomcat, JBoss, Resin, Jetty, and WebSphere.

It recently became free, check out my post about it. Given that it was an expensive product not long ago, I guess it's worth checking out.

zvikico
It's not clear from your post whether "Oracle Workshop for WebLogic" is an Eclipse plugin?
Don
+1  A: 

There once existed a plugin called JSEclipse that Adobe has subsequently sucked up and killed by making it available only by purchasing and installing FlexBuilder 3 (please someone prove me wrong). I found it to worked excellent but have since lost it since "upgrading" from Eclipse 3.4 to 3.4.1.

The feature I liked most was Content Outline.

In the Outline window of your Eclipse Screen, JSEclipse lists all classes in the currently opened file. It provides an overview of the class hierarchy and also method and property names. The outline makes heavy use of the code completion engine to find out more about how the code is structured. By clicking on the function entry in the list the cursor will be taken to the function declaration helping you navigate faster in long files with lots of class and method definitions

TomC
I am pretty sure anyone running eclipse can use JSEclipse, not just Flex Builder owners .. Remote Site URL: http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/jseclipse/autoinstall/ .. should get you there pronto
Scott Evernden
+3  A: 

Ganymede's version of WTP includes a revamped Javascript editor that's worth a try. The key version numbers are Eclipse 3.4 and WTP 3.0. See http://live.eclipse.org/node/569

nitind
A: 

I tried spket and JSEclipse but both are not sophisticated for me. Missing Comment/Uncomment features, code-completion is not rich like the Java one.

marquies
+1  A: 

Eclipse HTML Editor Plugin

I too have struggled with this totally obvious question. It seemed crazy that this wasn't an extremely easy-to-find feature with all the web development happening in Eclipse these days.

I was very turned off by Aptana because of how bloated it is, and the fact that it starts up a local web server (by default on port 8000) everytime you start eclipse and you can't disable this functionality. Adobe's port of JSEclipse is now a 400Mb plugin, which is equally insane.

However, I just found a super-lightweight javascript editor called Eclipse HTML Editor Plugin, made by Amateras, which was exactly what I was looking for.

Cory
+1  A: 

The new release of Eclipse (Helios) has an especific package for javascript web development. I haven't tried it yet, but it certainly worth a look.

Decio Lira