A Few Thoughts on Coda

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I seem to be the only one not thinking of switching my entire web development platform to Coda. I’m not saying it couldn’t ever happen, but in my last 2 hours of experimenting I’ve been suffering from Dreamweaver flashbacks.

The reason I initially gave up on do-it-all apps is because they didn’t do individual tasks as well as specialized applications. Granted, the interface is gorgeous, and the built in file transfer capabilities are nice. However, I really like having my multiple windows open and am not a fan of tabs (from multiple apps). I don’t like the CSS editor better than CSSEdit (X-Ray wins) and I will probably never be able to live without TextMate for editing code (snippets, commands and general extensibility). I don’t even want to see these favorites of mine combined into one application. They are as good at what they do as they are because they specialize.

I give mad props to Panic for releasing a beautiful and extremely useful app. I just won’t be switching. I did, however, buy a copy for one of my interns because I don’t expect he’ll ever learn the intricacies of TextMate but he has a drive to learn web design in general. Coda seems like a perfect solution.

So, to sum up after a very brief testing period. Beautiful app, wonderful interface, very few complaints with what exists. I just miss the things that aren’t there. Better than Dreamweaver (by far), but not as good for me as the power combo of TextMate, CSSEdit, a Terminal window and sometimes Yummy FTP.

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11 Comments

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  1. Mathias Meyer 04.24.07 / 2am

    I’m with you on this one. It’s a cool and beautifully done tool for sure, but I’ll stick with my stack of tools (which, surprisingly, includes TextMate and CSSEdit ;). I already use Transmit for all things file transfer, but for development I prefer SVN over remote editing.

  2. Mark Perkins 04.24.07 / 2am

    I have to say I am a bit baffled by all the fuss that many professional web designers are making over Coda - agreed the interface and design is lovely, but as you say it just lacks the power of the individual tools that I currently use.

    A great tool for those who don’t need advanced text-editing capabilities and who aren’t likely to want to customise their working environment, but for me it isn’t the ticket.

  3. baron 04.24.07 / 4am

    I think you nail it and this is pretty much like my own review. It’ll make a great introductory app for web development but it’s cumbersome for anything else. Nobody builds a house with a swiss army knife or a utility knife. A good carpenter will pay lots of money for a quality hammer.

    Another gripe I have is that Coda is essentially a two-layered window. On the surface it looks like one click switching but it’s more like a two step process. Not necessarily faster than switching between several apps and more confusing. Plus, if Coda crashes it’ll take your whole environment with it. That would suck. This and a lack of integration with source control makes it even more pricey at $79.

    However, I appreciate the effort that went into this work and look forward to the extra competition it brings to an increasingly tight market. I’ll hang on to my iTerm, TextMate, CSSEdit, YummyFTP combo for the indefinite future.

  4. Coda, die Webdesign-Wollmilchsau » admartinator.de 04.24.07 / 7am

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  5. slicematt 04.25.07 / 11am

    I love the TextMate, CSSEdit and Yummy combo myself. I don’t see Yummy mentioned as much as Interarchy or Transmit - works perfectly for my workflow.

  6. p4bl0 04.26.07 / 4am

    I’m french so please excuse my english ;-)

    I’m a TextMate user and a TextMate “fan”. The day Panic release Coda, we have a big discussion about it on MacGénération’s forums.
    Most of the people were saying “i switch to coda”, “Coda is better than TextMate”.
    But I agree with you : Coda is a cool, powerful and beautyful app, but for the most important thing : editing text, TextMate is by far (far far far far far far) the better app ever.

    And Everybody should remember that TextMate 2.0 will be free for TextMate 1.x customers and will certainly be a great surprise !

  7. Marc Edwards 06.16.07 / 6am

    Easy solution… Coda + CSSEdit!

    That’s what I’ve been using since the day Coda was released. Very happy with the combo. Coda even lets you open CSS files in CSSEdit from within Coda.

    I also still use Transmit for some tasks, but most of the time using Coda is quicker.

    The great thing about all this software is that it’s cheap enough that you can just buy it all without worrying too much about how much you’ll use them.

    Rock on Mac indy devs!

  8. sohbet 10.06.07 / 6pm

    thanks guys

  9. Coda, die Webdesign-Wollmilchsau - apfelquak 10.09.07 / 8am

    […] A Few Thoughts on Coda - Circle Six Blog Gequakt von ad Abgelaicht in Software […]

  10. burçlar 11.07.07 / 6pm

    Thank you mach

  11. Dan 05.24.08 / 7pm

    I agree. I tried both Coda and Textmate/CSS Edit about 4 months ago and purchased Textmate/CSS Edit. Just didn’t like the way Coda flowed at all.

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