Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Brackets was updated to version 0.44 recently, getting one of the most requested features: vertical and horizontal split view, so you can now view files side by side or one above another.

The new slip view feature can be accessed either from the View menu or from the icon next to Working File (left pane). For now, it's not possible to view the same files in both panes though.

Brackets Linux split view

The latest Brackets 0.44 also introduces Quick Docs support for vendor-prefixed CSS properties, project tree improvements along with new preference: show cursor in selected text - by default, Brackets hides the blinking cursor when you have a text selection and this behavior can now be disabled. The complete Brackets 0.44 changelog can be found HERE.

For those not familiar with Brackets, this is an open-source code editor for web design and development built on top of web technologies such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript, available for Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.

The application was originally created by Adobe, but is now maintained by the community, and features a quick edit mode that brings the relevant CSS for the selected tag in the main editor or live browser previews - the changes are pushed instantly to the browser (Chrome only), without having to save the changes or reload the page.

Furthermore, Brackets supports extensions for adding extra functionality - more than 400 extensions (at the time I'm writing this article) can easily be installed through the built-in Extension Manager.

Note that on Linux, there are a few known issues - for instance, Brackets doesn't close when first clicking the window close buttons so you must click on close again and also, there are no native OS menus (HTML menus are used as fallback).


Install Brackets in Ubuntu


The Brackets websites offers deb files for download (see below) however, if you want to receive automatic updates in Ubuntu / Linux Mint and derivatives, you can install Brackets by using the WebUpd8 Brackets Ubuntu PPA. To add the PPA and install Brackets, use the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:webupd8team/brackets
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install brackets


Download Brackets


Download Brackets (binaries available for Debian/Ubuntu, Windows and Mac OS X as well as source code)

Arch Linux users can install Brackets via AUR: 1 | 2 (bin).

For bug reports, etc., see the Brackets GitHub page.