Yesterday MacRabbit released its newest version of CSSEdit, the CSS editor par excellence. And Panic released Coda, an integrated environment for web design and web development. Did I hear someone mention Dreamweaver? Nobody? Well, let me just say that I am incredibly impressed by both these applications. CSSEdit 2.5 has replaced StyleMaster completely in my workflow, and Coda looks very promising --I hope the developer will enable me to put it to the test thoroughly.

CSSEdit 2.5, a free upgrade to registered users of CSSEdit 2, comes with tabs in both the editing and Preview window. The X-Ray Inspector, which was a bit skinny in the previous version now comes with a stylesheet Inspector that shows which styles have been applied to the selected element. It’s not yet as powerful as Xyle Scope, but then again, the chap who developed Xyle Scope has to make a living too, hasn’t he? Xyle Scope is still my application of choice to actually “see through” the CSS code and discover errors or things that just don’t look right.

X-Ray comes in as a very close second in CSSEdit 2.5. But the thing that really stunned me in CSSEdit 2.5 is Selector Builder. Selector Builder is great for beginning CSS coders and for people like me who are too lazy to write original code. Selector Builder has built-in intelligence: it will “translate” the CSS into human language --more or less.

It does a good job at it, although you can’t expect it to really explain to you how your code will apply to the HTML in the real world, of course. But if CSS scares you, Selector Builder might just make things a little more friendly --think of it as a simplified version of Automator. Needless to say, Selector Builder allows you to create very complicated style elements that only the most modern browsers will understand. I found Selector Builder a very powerful tool for those complicated things, but I code faster by hand when things remain relatively simple.

Coding by hand is better too, in CSSEdit 2.5, by the way. CodeSense, the algorithm that will complete your sentences for you, is better and more powerful and comes up with the right code for some 99.99% of the time now, as far as I can estimate. It’s frustrating to see the machine actually understands what I’m trying to say better then I can. Other enhancements in CSSEdit 2.5 are more under the hood. The sidepanels can now be set to auto-collapse or not, which speeds up working even more. Bugs have been squashed, but if I’m correct, a few others have surfaced --not to be alarmed about, just a few minor aggravations.

Panic, the software developer we know from CandyBar, Transmit, Unison and other nice-looking and well-behaving applications, last night (in Europe at least) released Coda. I downloaded Coda immediately; I usually love what Panic is doing and have purchased almost all of their software so far. I reckoned Coda would be every way that good, too. Was I wrong: it’s far better! It’s even better than Dreamweaver in my opinion. I’ve yet to discover it all, but if I’m correct, Coda allows you to edit pages that are online.

The performance of the application is great. It’s integrated, with a tab for writing HTML code, one for CSS (not as good as CSSEdit, though, but nice looking interface --it almost made me weep)., one that holds the preview, one for access to a terminal, and one that contains three reference eBooks. A copy of Transmit (the developer says it’s faster than the stand-alone version) is included. 

I plan on reviewing Coda, but from the first looks, this application looks great. If it behaves as I think it’s intended to, it will surpass Dreamweaver in terms of productivity, certainly if you’re used to writing HTML by hand anyway. If you want to “draw” your web pages, then you’re probably better off with Dreamweaver. Oh, and did I mention it has a Sites management feature as well?

Yes, it was a fruitful day for web designers yesterday. One wonders why we should need those applications, though. After all, one application is all it takes to write a great web page, and a great web site. TextMate or BBEdit is really all it takes. That’s true of course, certainly if you’re experienced. But eye candy is worth something too, and time is money. Both CSSEdit 2.5 (and I reckon Coda too) will save you time by helping you shape your thoughts better. I know it helps me a lot, and I do write CSS on at least a monthly basis.