on mac,
i used to be a textmate person (still am on small things) but i learned later on in life that those bulky editors that you talk about are things that speed things up for you. what i use is Komodo (which is lightweight for me) and netbeans.
reason why i use these is as follows:
- intelisense ( when i type $this-> (a dropdown shows up of all my defined methods, variables, etc..)
- subversion/git
- ability to have more than one project open at one time. great for multi tasking
- code gets highlighted when i mistype them or miss a ) or a “
- code collapse ( makes many lines of code more easier to digest)
- code/tag completion
those are just a few that i can recall to why i use komodo or netbeans.
I used to be like you where i tried them all and thought they were too bulky and liked simplicity like textmate or notpad++
but i regret it now, i was so narrow minded, once you enter the world of complex applications texmate/notpad++ or related is going to make your life very hard. Plus i use code coloring i hate a white background. for komodo check this page out.
http://www.kolormodo.com/
it makes life much easier.
you just have to try and be open minded with netbeans or komodo , its not all that bad. you will see how it will help you and you would be wishing u did it much earlier.
