5 random reasons I love Textmate

Posted by Tim Connor Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:32:00 GMT

  • Run tests – command-r runs the current test file
  • Run focused unit!!!! – command-shift-r runs the test your cursor is in.
  • The TODO bundle – ctrl-shift-t compiles all your #FIXME #TODO and #CHANGED comments into a pretty little list
  • goto file – command-t – a smart, easy, and quick way to go to a given file.
  • wrapping/unwrapping – a variety of shortcuts and menu items to combine/un-combine lists of items, wrap text in delimeters, etc.

TextMate really is growing on me or how to activate project drawer via keyboard

Posted by Tim Connor Thu, 29 Mar 2007 19:50:00 GMT

TextMate may not be an obtrusive, in-your-face, I’ll do that for you”, IDE in the style Visual Studio, but the more I use it the more I like it. I think it fits the Mac better, somehow, both the pretty-side and the *nix roots – it’s like vim or emacs with a pretty gui. I could go on about all it’s little not readily apparent niceties that you discover as you start to use it, and I might over time, but first….

After getting QuickSilver set-up I’v been trying to rely on my mouse less. After a bit of that I was still constantly using the mouse for one particular task in TextMate, which lead me to a question: how to activate project drawer via keyboard?

CTRL-TAB will switch you back and forth between the drawer and the editor. Combine that with option-command(aka open apple)-[right|left] arrow for tab switching and you hardly need your mouse.