tl:dr:To celebrate the long-awaited releaset of TextMate 2 this week, my friend Kevin and I have started a new tumblelog called Text Mate 2 Tips to offer simple visual tips on how to use the new features of our favourite text editor.
Way back in 2005, watching screencasts of Rails developers working in TextMate and the almost telekinetic way they could manipulate code with it was a big reason I finally switched to a mac.
As time wore on, and the release of TextMate 2 slipped further and further, the update became a canonical example of vapourware, right along side Duke Nukem. People started abandoning TextMate looking for something new that could replace it. And, though I dallied with several of these contenders, none of them fit as transparently with the way I work and think in code.
So, I was excited earlier this week to learn that an alpha version of TextMate 2 has finally been released to the public, and it’s nowhere near as horrible as Duke Nukem Forever.
There was one problem; though there were many new features in the long-awaited release, documentation was scant. It was a challenge to hunt for bits of intel through trial and error and Github commits. So I decided to start a tumblelog to capture the tips and tricks I discovered and to solicit tips to share from others. The TextMate 2 Tips blog was born. The response has been overwhelming with core TextMate developers contributing tips. And I am honoured that we even got a nice link from the Macromates blog!
If you are a TextMate user and want to take advantage of all the features of the new release, then check out the blog or follow tm2tips on twitter, and if you’ve got a tip submit it and we’ll share it on the blog.
This really is a problem I must do more research into, i appreciate you for the post.
TextMate 2’s release did not “slip” because it never had a release date. The author said that it would be done when it felt done. In the meantime, it’s not as though TextMate somehow became less awesome over time. Sure, it might be a gateway drug for the new generation of vim aficionados, but it’s still amazing.
That said, have you tried Sublime?
Hi Pete,
Thanks for your thoughts. I didn’t mean to imply that TextMate missed some promised release date or that TM1 sucked in any way (more on that in a sec). I was merely setting up the idea that an alpha of Textmate 2 (that doesn’t involve you plucking a dooky out of a toilet) was a cause for celebration.
I am a huge fan of Textmate and have been using it for the like half a decade now. In fact, I only stopped using TM1 when I switched to TM2 alpha full time. This post was meant as a proclamation of my love for TextMate; and an announcement of the work I was doing on TextMate 2 Tips to help other fans with the alpha. I’m sorry if it came off as anything else.
I linked to both Sublime and MacVim in my post, but I conclude that “[neither] fit as transparently with the way I work and think in code” as TextMate.
I’d love to hear what text editor you’re using and why. Have you tried the TM2 alpha?