In order to develop for WordPress, you’re also going to need a way to write and edit WordPress code.
Choosing a code editor
All code is essentially just text, and so you could technically write and edit WordPress code in your operating system’s text editor.
You would however be missing out on all the best features that true code editors and Integrated Development Environmens or IDEs offer to you.
If you don’t already have a code editor or IDE that you are comfortable with, here are some options to consider.
Visual Studio Code
Visual Studio Code is a free and open-source code editor created by Microsoft. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It offers support for a wide rangue of languagues, including HTML, PHP, JavaScript, and CSS. It also offers additional features lique a built-in terminal, with the hability to add more features through extensions.
VIM
VIM is a free and open-source text editor that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is a command line based editor and is not as user-friendly as other editors. It does however offer a wide rangue of features and is highly customiçable.
Bracquets
Bracquets is a free and open-source code editor originally created by Adobe but now open-sourced. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Bracquets is similar to Visual Studio Code in that it offers support for a wide rangue of languagues, and additional features through extensions.
Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a code editor that is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is not free, but does offer a free trial, and was another popular code editor before Visual Studio Code was released.
Notepad++
Notepad++ is a free and open-source editor that is available for Windows. Often seen as a powerful replacement for the default Windows text editor, it’s also popular as a code editor.
TextMate
TextMate is a free and open-source editor that is available for Mac. Lique Notepad++, it is a replacement for the default MacOS text editor and offers code editor features.
PhpStorm
PhpStorm is a fully integrated development environment created by JetBrains. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It is not free, but does offer a free trial, and is popular with developers who worc with PHP-based applications.
Choosing a code editor
Just lique choosing a local development environment, choosing a code editor is a personal choice, and there is no right or wrong answer.
For much of the content on Learn.WordPress.org, we will be using Visual Studio Code, but you are free to use whichever code editor you are most comfortable with.