Sublime Text

Sublime Text 3 is an amazing piece of software. Sublime is a clean, functional, and fast code editor. It has incredible built in features with support for plugins, snippets, and many other things.

Sublime Plug-ins

  • Package Control Links to an external site. - package manager that simplifies finding and installing plug-ins. This is the first plug-in I install. To Use: Go into the command palette (ctrl + shift +p) and type install.
  • sublimetext-defaultplus-theme Links to an external site. - I do not like the browse folder left bar being white. This is a modification of the default SublimeText theme that makes it easier to look at. (remember to use commas in the preference file).
  • SidebarEnhancements - This plugin provides a great deal more choices when right clicking on a file in the sidebar. The ability to open, find, copy and paste, and more are all provided.
  • Alignment - A very simple and easy to use plugin. I’m a very big fan of making your code organized and good looking. It helps tons when you revisit the code later down the road. Alignment helps with that. To Use: Highlight the lines you want to align and press ctrl + alt + a
  • BracketHighlighter - This plugin provides bracket highlighting for all sorts of brackets.
  • Colorpicker - Have the ability to change colors with a colorpicker on the fly. To Use: ctrl + shift + c
  • git - Git helps you interact with your Git repo. It has support for all sorts of things like init, push, pull, branch, stash, and more.
  • GitGutter - This is a small, but useful plugin that will tell you what lines have changed since your last Git commit. An indicator will show in the gutter next to the line numbers.
  • AlignTab - This plugin is very similar to Alignment, but it has some extra features to it that are really useful. I personally like to use this in conjunction with Alignment. AlignTab allows you do align your code based on a regular expression.
  • Sublime Linter - This plugin is like a IDE itself, it finds errors in your code as you go. It supports dozens of languages, from PHP to Python, Java, etc.. This plugin is not only recommend but it should be mandatory.
  • Sublime CodeIntel - This plugins brings a little of IDE functionality. This plugin reads all your code and is able to code-complete, jump into definitions and function call tooltips.

Sublime Features

  • Command Palette ctrl + shift + p - The command palette let’s you access pretty much anything in the settings menus, call your package commands, change file syntax, handle Sublime projects, and so much more. For instance, you are able to call Git commands add, branch, commit, push, and pull all from the command palette.
  • File Switching ctrl + p - Sublime Text provides a really fast way to open up new files. Just press ctrl + p and start typing the name of the file you want. Once it shows up, just press enter and start typing directly into that file!
  • Goto Symbols ctrl + r - When you have a large file with a bunch of methods, pressing ctrl + r will list them all and make them easier to find. Just start typing the one you want and press enter. Sublime Text 3 also has a new feature (Goto Definition). It provides Sublime Text with more capabilities closer to an IDE. Take a look at that if you’re interested.
  • Multi-Edit ctrl + click - This is in my opinion, the absolute best feature of Sublime. After using it here, it’s hard to go back to other text editors. There are many different ways to use multi-edit:
    • ctrl + d: Select the current word and the next same word
    • ctrl + click: Every place you click will create a cursor to edit
    • ctrl + shift + f AND alt + enter: Find a word in your files and then select them all
  • Snippets - Snippets are yet another great feature of Sublime Text. You can use the pre-installed ones, build your own, or install a package that has more. All you have to do is type in a word and it will expand into your snippet. For example, typing lorem will generate lorem ipsum text. To Use: Type a word that activates a snippet (ie lorem) and press tab.

Sublime Keyboard + Mouse Shortcuts

  • There are many keyboard shortcuts Links to an external site. to improve workflow.
  • Column Selection - Right Mouse Button + Shift (windows + Linux), Right Mouse Button + Option (Mac) OR: Middle Mouse Button. Add to selection: Ctrl
    Subtract from selection: Alt. Keyboard Ctrl + Alt + Arrow

Sublime Projects

Projects are an integral part of workflow in Sublime Text. A project is just a Sublime workspace in which your folders are open and stored in the sidebar. This helps since you can define a project and add folders to it, and be able to switch between folders quickly.

Using projects, you will no longer have to go digging in Windows Explorer or Finder to get the project you want and drag it into Sublime.

To Save a Project: Go into the command palette and type save project

To Switch Projects: ctrl + alt + p

Best of Sublime Text 3: Features, Plugins, and Settings Links to an external site.