June 6, 2016
Syntra Small: A Fast and Free Text Editor
Syntra Small
Product: Syntra Small | Code Editor Built for Speed
Price: Free
This is a new text editor for the Mac OS. It is available from the Mac App Store, here.
The developer is clear as to its mission. This is it:
My goal with Syntra Small is to make the fastest, tiniest, most modular code editor on OS X.
It's not meant to replace your IDE. It's meant to be there for those times when you need to quickly browse or edit a script, and want to do so with beautiful syntax highlighting and a built in linter.
So, how does it do?
It is fast. Fast to launch. Almost instant, on my five year old iMac. It is snappy.
Tiniest? I am not sure I care about that. But as a programmer, the developer might. I don’t see the advantage that this provides the user. But to indulge the developer:
| Syntra Small |
18 megs |
| CotEditor |
19.4 megs |
| SublimeText |
31.4 megs |
| BBEdit |
30.7 megs |
| TextMate |
33 megs |
It is capable. It is fast. It is beautiful.
Syntra Preferences
It is minimal in that it gives you a small subset of decisions in its preference panel. You get to choose between Light or Dark mode. You get to specify Soft Tabs settings, Enable or disable Auto-Save and choose a font from a selection made available by the developer.
It has github integration available through the modular plug-ins which are a part of the architecture. I am waiting for more choices in that feature. A public API which is promised will make the process of users adding plugins easier.
That is about it.
One of the advantages of dealing with a new product is that as an user you get to have some impact on the design and future of the product. The developer, Garet McKinley is responsive and you the user, have an opportunity to affect the future design and growth of the product.
Markdown
Syntra Small supports the basic features of every text editor, It supports themes and highlights the syntax of a whole host of languages. For my needs, it does a good job of highlighting markdown syntax.
What Is It About Full Screen Mode That Baffles All of These Editors?
I have noticed that a lot of these text editors have trouble implementing full screen mode on the iMac. Why is it difficult to implement a 80-character or thereabouts, text window. The text window centered on the screen and everything else black or swathed in the background color? For instance, this is Syntra Small in fullscreen mode.
Syntra Full Screen
I know the screenshot is difficult to read. Look at the lines, they go across the screen. So one line is all across the 27 inch iMac screen. It is not possible for anyone to write like that.
See the same thing in Sublime Text 3.
Sublime Text 3 full screen
See the same thing in BBEdit.
BBEdit Full Screen
I wish the developers would solve this problem and make full screen usable on bigger displays.
This is a free offering. It does what it is supposed to do and if you are looking for a quick, easy to use text editor, it fits the bill nicely.
Recommended heartily.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
Syntra Small
text editor
May 31, 2016
Sublime Tutor: Sensei for Aspiring Sublime Text Ninjas
Product: Sublime Tutor
Price: Free
Keyboard commands. That is what separates the text editor ninja from the novice. On the path to text editing ninja status, you are better off picking one text editor and learning it. Learn it deeply. That means you have to learn the keyboard commands that allow you to do stuff in the text editor. Every command has one, the more you know, the more efficient you are in it.
The less you have to go to the menus, or click on buttons, or use the mouse at all, the more efficient you will be.
How Do You Reach Ninja State?
- Pick a text editor. Any one. On the Mac, Sublime Text 3, BBEdit, Atom, TextMate, vim, emacs, or, Chocolat, are all good choices. I use Sublime Text 3.
- Stay in that text editor for all your text editing needs. Keep it open all the time. Work in it whenever you are writing something.
- Infuse the keyboard commands into your muscle memory. How does one do this?
Keyboard Commands Into Muscle Memory
How do you fuse the knowledge of keyboard commands into your muscles?
- Learn them. In Sublime Text 3 and Atom, you can reach every command by evoking the command palette (⌘+⇧+P). Then you start typing words from the command you need and the fuzzy search gives you the command you are looking for. Next to it, is the keyboard command. Make a note of it, use it. Next time, avoid the command palette, type the keyboard command. In BBEdit, check out the Menus and Shortcuts preferences. In most other text editors read the manual or the help files. Search the Internet for cheatsheets.
- Learn them in bunches. Few of them at a time. Use them. Don’t try to learn all of them at one time. You are not going to get there. Learn them in small batches. Let your muscles, both your fingers and your brain learn them, get used to them, welcome them into your life. Do this again and again.
- Give yourself time. You are not going to become a text editing ninja in a week or a month. It is going to take time. Give yourself that time.
- If you keep at it, you are going to get there. You are going to achieve ninja status.
Being a Sublime Text user, I am interested in learning how to use the text editor better and there is a new plugin which aids this effort.
Sublime Tutor is an attempt to teach you keyboard commands in Sublime Text 3 through a tutorial which is built into the program. It derives inspiration from vimtutor, and delivers small chunks of information to you, to aid you in the process of achieving true Sublime Text 3 mastery.
You can use package control to install the plugin. You can read about it here. Check out the package control page here.
It comes with 6 modules, 39 chapters and 70 features and shortcuts. It is intensive, it is complete and it is well organized. It will take time to get through it all. Don’t hurry that process. It is not sensible to expect to incorporate all of that information into your workflow at once. Let it seep into your muscle memory. Do a few chapters at a time. Use what you have learned. When you get comfortable with it, ingest a few more chapters. Repeat the process again and again.
I am grateful to Jai Pandya for making this available. It is a fantastic resource and a worthwhile addition to the Sublime Text 3 arsenal. Thank you Jai.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
Keyboard commands
SublimeText
May 26, 2016
Segue Down the Analog Road: The rOtring Rapid Pro 2.0 Mechanical Pencil
Product: rOtring Rapid PRO Mechanical Pencil, 2 mm, Matte Black
I don’t know much about Bauhaus School of Art and Design. I do know that they inspired the design of the best mechanical pencil that I have ever used.
rOtring has been making the Rapid Pro line of mechanical pencils since 2010. rOtring describes them as “an innovative 2mm pencil with push mechanism and fine-lead pencils with cushion point mechanism & tubular sliding point. A perfect professional tool!”
This is how it comes packaged.
Rapid Pro Package
This is the pencil.
The Pencil
Why is this special?
The feel. The weight. The quality of the engineering. It is beautiful. It is heavy. Seems to be the perfect weight for writing. All of that translates into the following: I want to use this pencil. I want to write, even when I have nothing to write about.
As you can probably tell, I love this pencil.
Recommended heartily.
While I am talking about the pencil, you can get lead for the pencil here.
You also need a pencil sharpener, and this is the best one I have seen.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
Pencil
May 24, 2016
How Well Is the Mac App Store Curating?
Apps for Writers
The Mac App Store has a ton of applications. Unless you know about an application, it is very difficult to wade through all of the choices and make an informed, intelligent choice. This process is helped by the special sections Apple curates to help the customer along the process of decision making. This is a responsibility Apple should take seriously, they are the authority providing the direction. Their credibility and trust are on the line. I wanted to see how well Apple is doing.
I decided to look at the special section called Apps for Writers. Primarily because this is the category I know best in the store. The section is broken up into four categories:
- Manuscript Makers
- Distraction-Free Writing
- Journaling & Blogging
- Notes & Clippings
I would have liked another section. Aid to Writers. This would include tools which make the process of writing easier and better. This would include Pomodoro timers, grammar checkers, Markdown previewers and the like.
Manuscript Makers
| Pages |
May 10, 2016 |
Great |
| iBooks Author |
Mar 29, 2016 |
Great |
| Ulysses |
Apr 20, 2016 |
Great |
| Scrivener |
Sept 30, 2015 |
Great |
| iA Writer |
Apr 22, 2016 |
Fits better in Distraction-Free Writing, Great |
| Final Draft 9 |
Sept 18, 2015 |
Industry Standard |
| Storyist |
Dec 10, 2015 |
Meh |
| Mellel |
Apr 13, 2016 |
Great |
| MovieDraft |
Feb 07, 2012 |
Old |
| Slugline |
Feb 17, 2016 |
Great |
I am not certain iA Writer fits in this category. Distraction-Free Writing is the better category for it. iA Writer has broadened its scope through support of file directories but it is still a single document centric application. You can read a review here.
MovieDraft hasn’t had an update for more than four years now. Is this still a viable product?
This list doesn’t seem to be an attempt to pick the best of breed. Ulysses, Scrivener and Storyist, are all playing in the same space. Final Draft 9 and Slugline though fundamentally different products are catering to the same audience, the screenwriter. So, it is not a best of breed exercise. It is a list of the notables. In that case, it makes sense to visit the word-processor category.
Besides Pages, Mellel is the only word-processor in the list. Wouldn’t it make sense to include Nisus Writer Pro also in this list? It is being continuously developed, has an absolutely fanatic bunch of users, and is very competent at what it does, process words.
Distraction-Free Writing
iA Writer should be in this section.
I think Rough Draft, Flowstate, and Ommwriter Dana II are just too gimmicky. I would never use them. But I understand that gimmicks sell. So, I am not going to bitch too much about the choice of these products.
Write is classified as abandonware by the developer. Why is it on this list? WriteRoom? Almost four years without an update? The last update was to make it compatible with Lion! Macchiato? That is a product which last got updated five years ago? Really? That is the best available in the App Store?
What about Focused? What about Writed Pro. There are alternatives which are more current than the ones listed. You cannot tell me that there is no better product in the App Store than the one last updated in 2011.
Journaling & Blogging
This is a shorter category. I don’t have any gripe about the choices, except for Memoires which is 5 years old. I also don’t know anything about two of the choices.
Notes & Clippings
| Evernote |
Apr 22, 2016 |
Good |
| Notability |
Mar 17, 2016 |
Meh |
| Notefile |
Sep 01, 2015 |
Meh |
| Ember |
Oct 23, 2015 |
Aid |
| Simplenote |
Jan 26, 2016 |
Great |
| 1Checker |
Apr 28, 2015 |
Aid |
| MindNode |
May 17, 2016 |
Great |
| OmniOutliner Pro |
May 17, 2016 |
Great |
| Together 3 |
May 19, 2016 |
Good |
| Scapple |
Oct 21, 2014 |
Good |
| Scribe - Intuitive Outliner |
Dec 02, 2014 |
Meh |
Ember and 1Checker shouldn’t be in this section. They are aids to writing/thinking. They are not involved in notes or clippings. They belong to the Writing Aids section Apple should add to this list. There are however, some glaring omisions in this list. I think Quiver should be in this list, so should TextNut. I think OmniOutliner Pro is a great choice, but Scribe has a lot more competitors in its price range, and OutlineEdit, Tree 2 and Outlinely all deserve
consideration. Likewise Together 3 is a great product but Growly Notes deserves some attention too. Notability and Notefile have iOS counterparts, and if that is a consideration Notebooks should be on this list.
Aids to Writing
This is the section that is not present.
This can include the following products:
Conclusion
So how did Apple do?
A mixed bag really. Some sensible suggestions, but some howlers too. There should be a cut-off date for old products. For instance, if a product has not been updated for the last two OS revisions, it doesn’t deserve inclusion in any curated list. I think the Aids to Writing would improve this list.
I am going to keep a lookout on updates to this and other curated lists for future coverage.
macosxguru at the gmail thingie
Curating
Mac App Store
Writing
May 21, 2016
Links of Note 2016-05-21
This is beautiful.
A Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) City Guide - Life & Thyme
A write-up on the advantages of Markdown.
You Should Probably Blog in Markdown - Media Temple Blog
We are getting to the point where we need tools to protect the Mac OS from evil. This is a good start.
KnockKnock
RansomWhere?
I bow to you Mr. Stephen Radford.
Restoring an Apple Extended Keyboard II
A lovely free monospace font for coding and writing.
mononoki
macosxguru at the gmail thingie.
Photography
Markdown
Malware
Keyboards
Font
Bicycle For Your Mind