• Single Window Environment
• Custom Syntax Highlighting
• Regular Expression Find/Replace
• Function/Method List
• Native FTP/SFTP
• Intuitive Remote Site Browsing
• Remote File Reload
• Preview Tool

My attempts at finding Mac development software that suited all those needs have turned up pretty lame results. For the past year I’ve been suffering with BBEdit. While it is a fairly decent editor, its FTP support and multi-window interface just left me wanting something more.

Enter the newly released Coda.

This is the diamond in the rough! It provides everything that EditPlus had and a bunch more, integrating Panic‘s Transmit FTP application; a Terminal window; a sexy Editor with all the features I love; a browser window (Safari); a CSS Editor (which I’ll never use, although it’s cool); and a development Book library. Wow. Awesome stuff. Or as Panic puts it:

Not only is their editor a beautiful application, their website is definitely something to write home about. Stunning. What’s even cooler is the fact that because I bought a Transmit license a few months back, I received a discount when I bought my Coda license. w00t! So…if you find yourself still on the hunt for a Mac Development Tool…Coda is the answer. Heck, even if you have one you like…Coda is better :)

I have developed web applications for quite some time, writing Javascript off an often unnecessary tool that simply added frills. Over the course of this year – with the birth of the Ajax hype – I realize my error. I began inserting javascript all over hell’s half acre and raving about its sweetness. I’ve grown in a year.

As I develop more javascript-rich web applications for my amusement and my job, I am constantly seeking better ways to structure both data and code. It wasn’t until a month ago that I really began to dig into the Prototype and Script.aculo.us code (rather than simply using it) and began to grow aware of what was actually going on. Object Oriented Javascript.

I think it is important to note (so I don’t look like a complete nitwit) that I was aware that Javascript had this capability a couple of months back before I picked up and started using the afore mentioned Javascript libraries…I just had no drive to learn it and spot where it was being used. I have seen the light and it is good.

What are its benefits? Well, pretty much the same applies to Javascript that applies to any other programming language…OOP helps increase organization and reduce un-needed redundancy. And best of all? It helps prevent dual-declared functions and variables. That is the reason I chose to begin my quest for OO-JS familiarity.

I had gone hunting at a few other sites that claimed to be good references (obviously) of OO-JS, but they lacked the topic of inheritance, which is the real strength of any OOP Language. The most helpful article I found on the topic was at WebReference. They discuss the use of prototype (Not the Javascript Library). Here’s a quick excerpt, but I’d suggest you read the article for yourself!

Excerpt from WebReference

function Person() {
      this.name = "Rob Roberson";
      this.age = 31;
}

function Employee() {
      this.dept = "HR";
      this.manager = "John Johnson";
}

Employee.prototype = new Person();

var Ken = new Employee();

Ken is in the prototype chain of Employee, Person, and Object.

Check it out. Use it. You’ll like it. You’re applications will like it. Oh, and it may prove useful to check out some Javascript Coding Conventions.