Panic have just released the Coda code and design interface and it has got a lot of promise. It plugs itself as an all in one designing platform and I think that as far as web design goes its certainly got most of the bases covered but really needs a few tweaks to make it a app of choice.

The one thing that Coda is really good at (and especially so for Joomla) is editing files on the fly. Most of the other editors out there will have some degree of online editing but Coda really nails it by including their ftp program (Transmit) into the interface.

As an example you can click on a file in the left column and have it open in the main window without thinking twice. This is great for not only working on template design but also for hacking the core Joomla code or addons. So the workflow goes something like this:

1. Click on the file you want to edit.

2. Edit the file

3. Click Command C and the file is live.

   No need to drag and drop or worry about file confusion because its all happening in the one interface. This makes affecting small changes to design a breeze.

   The two areas that Coda falls down is in multiple file searching. The search function is limited to the file that is open in the window, whereas with other software like the open source/free Smultron you can open a directory of files and search for all occurrences of your search term - it takes a lot of the stress out of digging deep into the Joomla core.

   The other area, which is a little clunky is the css editor. It does the job and has some nice features but when you compare it to an app like CSS Edit, it doent really measure up.

   All in all and a few weeks after my purchase Im fairly happy with it. Its still really becoming a mature app given that its only v1.0 but there have been two updates in the last two weeks which says something about Panic wanting to get this product right. It hasnt changed my local server workflow but has sure sped up my live site editing.