Dreamweaver CS4 vs Coda – Search Smack Down

I have been using OS X for development now for the last couple months and one of the apps I was looking forward to trying out was Panic’s Coda. Unfortunately the first version of Coda was missing a critical feature for me, site wide Search. Recently Coda released an upgrade and among a ton of other awesome new features was site wide search.

One of the first things you will notice is that it is fast, I mean really really fast. Now I suspect that it is because Coda is using OS X’s Spotlight. Now on the other hand I have been using Dreamweaver for the last 9 years, starting with Dreamweaver 3. Dreamweaver does a lot of things very well but it has become a very big application, some what bloated. Search has always been really cumbersome and it becomes more evident when you compare it to Coda.

Since Dreamweaver is on Windows & OS X, I suspect Adobe has not got around to optimizing Search on the OS X version. Take a look at the video below to see how much better Coda is in Search.  I’ll continue to highlight the differences in Coda and Dreamweaver, since Coda is only $99 it could save some people money without losing functionality.

  • http://www.canofpop.com Andrew

    Sweet… i’ve been thinking about using coda instead of shelling out many many pounds on Dreamweaver cs4… You’ve just made my mind up.. thanks dude!

  • http://www.petebernardo.com Pete

    Awesome, glad I could help. If you are comfortable or want to become really good at coding, Coda is the way to go on OS X. I’ll highlight some more features eventually but previewing a site in Coda is also light years better than Dreamweaver.

    Let me know if you have any questions

  • John D

    I tried out Coda about 6 months ago desperate to find an alternative to Dreamweaver but it lacked a few key features one of which was site wide search! It’s great to see that they’ve also added a plug-in architecture which is what gave dreamweaver its edge. I’m looking forward to having a play.

    Dreamweaver has frustrated me for the last 3 releases because they have done nothing to improve the app, only ‘add’ supposed useful ‘features’. Simplify, simplify and simplify some more. Make things easier for developers. Don’t add features thinking that you are adding ‘value’. Typical McDonalds thinking.

    Rant over!

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  • Logan

    Hello Pete,
    I’m not sure if you will get this, but I’m wondering if I will have much problem using Coda in my work environment. I will be working with a graphics designer who will be working in Photoshop. So, basically. Will it be more worth it to go with Dreamweaver because they are both Adobe programs? I am also new with developing websites and haven’t worked much with Dreamweaver.

  • http://www.petebernardo.com Pete

    Dreamweaver is probably going to be better if you have never worked with sites before. It will do a good job of showing you the site as you build it and let you click on elements to see where it code you are.

    I love Coda, but if you have never coded before it might be a little harder to learn starting with Coda.

    Using Dreamweaver and Photoshop has some advantages, there is some functionality that you would not get if you used Coda to build your sites.

  • http://www.petebernardo.com/ Pete

    Just a test