Technology

Power Up Sublime!

Attention: This article is a work in progress.

So I’ve been using Sublime for quite a while, but I never really did bother trying to get the most of it. It was not until S.Z. helped me out and change my workflow did I start trying to get more into it. Here’s a couple things I found out you could do with it.

The Master Command

Remember it now, and don’t forget it: cmd-shift-p. It’s the shortcut of shortcuts.
Using it, you will be able to install packages and easily access all extended functionalities from your plug ins as well as Sublime itself.

Unlock Packages

Download Package Control. It will make downloading packages and themes a breeze.

Install Themes and Color Schemes

After you’ve installed Package Control, try customizing your Sublime’s appearance and make it your own. There’s no best theme, only a theme you like. So have fun with it!

Tips
Download Colorsublime to change themes in real time. Helped me decide what theme to choose.

Resources I used to find my theme of choice
Calkin’s Guide
Shape of Web’s Guide

I eventually found my combination of choice
My theme = Boxy’s Yesterday theme
My color scheme = Aurora theme

Install Plugins (T.B.U.)

what are some good plug ins to install?
Origami
Bracketeer
Compare Side-By-Side

Turn your Sublime into an IDE

Note: I base my choices off of number of github commits, active developer community, and basic research. If, after using it myself, I think the quality is acceptable, I’ll write about it in here.

SublimeLinter
Install the SublimeLinter package to style check your code for errors. Helps massively with debugging. Sublime Linter is just an interface; you’ll need to download specific linters from Sublime Linter’s list of options.

Building a JS IDE

SublimeLinter-jshint
If you need a JS linter, many people recommend SublimeLinter-jshint.

Building a Python IDE

reference

Anaconda
Get it for autocompletion, documentation, goto definitions, and more. Follow the installation instructions.

Suggestion: disable Anaconda’s default linting and use SublimeLinter-pylint instead.

 

SublimeLinter-pylint
Install the SublimeLinter-pylint package. Make sure to follow the instructions before you install.

 

Self Customization (T.B.U.)

Haven’t really tested this out myself, but one thing I did was add indentation guides to my Sublime. It makes it a lot easer to see what level of indentation I am in (especially useful for indent based languages such as Python).

List of Customizations:
Customization 1: Adding Indentation Guide Lines

Add indent guide lines.
Reference nick1’s answer at Sublime’s Forums to edit the colors of the lines. In order to edit the colors, you’ll need to find the file of the theme you’re using, and edit it directly. For example, I needed to find “Aurora.tmTheme” which was located in my “~/Library/Application Support/Sublime Text 3/Packages/User” folder (you’ll probably need to dig around to find the correct file).

If you don’t like nick1’s colors, edit them! I played around and settled on making the activeGuide gold and the stackGuide gray. Here’s the code:
<key>stackGuide</key>
<string>#4c4c4c</string>
<key>activeGuide</key>
<string>#ffe34d</string>

Customization 2: ???

Seeing Mac Hidden Files + Folders
Can’t believe I actually had to search this up to figure it out… but if you want to be editing the nitty gritty details of any application, you’ll need to learn these commands:
cmd-shift-. (lets you show/hide hidden files)
cmd-shift-g (lets you select what folder to go to AND see all the hidden folders located there)
You’ll probably need to be visiting the ~/Library/Application Support folder quite a bit.

Native Sublime Functionality

unlock the power of Sublime without needing to tinker or download.
sneak peak: projects, and how to fix this issue.
search in all files and folders (sublime project)

Conclusions

Okay, that’s enough for one sitting…
I’ll update this series periodically as I master Sublime and discover more things!

You Might Also Like

1 Comment

  • Reply
    M.T.I.L.W. Deploying to Heroku – Memory Cascade
    September 30, 2017 at 1:45 am

    […] Download a linter. You can learn more about how to install linter’s for Sublime at my Power Up Sublime! […]

  • Leave a Reply