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Edit Code in Multiple Languages
by Andy Clark
October 13, 2005
SlickEdit 10 is the latest release of a powerful editor that lets you work with code in a variety of languages. Like its predecessors, this version provides tools for editing, searching, and merging your source files, and it offers built-in support for VS.NET, Java, and other development environments. Version 10 adds some features that are of particular interest to C++ and Java developers.
SlickEdit’s GUI features menus, dockable windows, toolboxes, and explorers similar to Visual Studio. It also includes capabilities similar to IntelliSense. Note that this feature helps in completing statement blocks (such as if (…) {}) and built-in functions for many languages, but it doesn't extend to recognizing ActiveX object properties in the same manner as VS.
SlickEdit's GUI supports hotkeys, and what's more, SlickEdit allows you to choose the "family" of hotkeys you want to use, including the hotkeys used within VS, Brief, or a variety of other environments. You can switch easily between SlickEdit and another editor to take full advantage of the special features each offers.
SlickEdit includes an intelligent search-and-replace engine that accepts regular expressions (see Figure 1). SlickEdit makes using regular expressions a snap by adding controls to the search dialog that help you build your search expressions. Other tools include support for a class browser, embedded FTP, spell checking, and beautifying source code.
SlickEdit provides particularly strong support for source code comparison and merger. Its DIFFzilla tool supports interactive comparisons of directories and files using an easy-to-understand GUI that supports visual merging of differences. A three-way merge capability that's built into the editor itself allows you to compare up to three different files and merge them together. This merge is particularly valuable if you must combine work being done by multiple developers on a single module. This capability can also be effective when you must reconcile and pull together development, test, and production versions of a module.
SlickEdit 10 provides support for refactoring C++ classes by helping you split large classes into multiple classes, move class methods around in an inheritance hierarchy, or pull methods in subclasses up to a super class. The documentation includes built-in help and printed user manuals. The online support team is prompt and professional.
SlickEdit can also perform builds and compiles, but it is not a true replacement for the VS environment. It lacks the visual form editor, special database tools, automatic object completion for registered components, and a variety of other things. However, it does provide functionality not available in VS, and it's easy to switch between the two environments. If you work with one of the many languages SlickEdit supports, SlickEdit provides a convenient and useful environment for working with source code intended for multiple environments.
SlickEdit 10
SlickEdit
Web: www.slickedit.com
Phone: 800-934-3348
Price: $299
Quick Facts: Text editing and management for C#, C++, VB, VB.NET, Java, COBOL, XML, and other languages.
Pros: Great cross-platform development tools; strong tools for comparing and merging source code.
Cons: Doesn't do visual editing of forms; doesn't integrate completely into Visual Studio or VS.NET.
About the Author
Andy Clark is a technical lead with the Virginia Community College System. Reach him at .
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