All a developer needs for writing Javascript is a text editor - could even be Notepad/Notepad++. Yet there are many options, including:
- Text editors with plugins
- e.g. Atom, VS Code, Sublime Text, Brackets, Vim
- IDEs
- e.g. Visual Studio with Web Essentials, Jetbrains Webstorm, Eclipse with Javascript plugins
Here are some of the more popular editors and their features.
Atom:
Atom is a popular text editor with large community. It is cross-platform (runs on Windows, Linux and OS X), free, and open source. This text editor is highly customizable and includes lots of plugins and extensions to help your program.
VS Code:
VS Code is an open-source text editor from Microsoft. It is cross platform, customizable and provides many features such as file system browsing, integrated terminal, and task runners. It also provides Javascript debugging under Node JS and lots of plugins/extensions.
Jetbrains WebStorm:
Jetbrains WebStorm is a ready-to-use IDE for JavaScript development. It supports web development with HTML and CSS support via code highlighting, code completion as well as Javascript debugging and intellisense. Webstorm is a paid software that is a 100% free for students and teachers upon verification of their university/college domain email or ISIC card.