If you're developing Web pages on a Mac, you're probably already familiar with BBEdit. This versatile text editor is a favorite of both Web developers and programmers. Some reviewers complain that it has a high learning curve, but it's simply BBEdit's industrial interface that can make it seem intimidating. Among BBEdit's best features are the HTML Tools palette and the search and replace functions, both of which are easy to learn for anyone with a basic familiarity with HTML.

In many ways BBEdit is still the lean and mean text editor it was two versions ago. It doesn't exhibit the usual bloat that seems to characterize many WYSIWYG editors. Instead, the major extensions to BBEdit come from more and better integration with other tools, including recently added integration with Canto's Cumulus media asset management system.

BBEdit is among the very best tools available for the professional Web developer. It's only real drawback is the fact that it isn't available for the PC. The 5.0 upgrade was released in November and is available from the Barebones site.

(Bare Bones Software, Inc.; Macintosh; $119)

Reviews

BBEdit: Bad to the Bone

HTML Editors for Professionals: Builder.com Editors' Choice

MacWeek Review of BBEdit 4.5

ZDNet Review of BBEdit 4.5

Webintosh Review of BBEdit 4.5

Macintosh Internet Professional's Review of BBEdit 4.5

Tips & Tricks

BBEdit Tips & Tricks from AnyBrowser

BBEdit Grep Tutorial from AnyBrowser

Using BBEdit with Frontier

BBEdit Specific Tips & Tricks