[billpatrianakos]

You're right about that first sentence but wrong on the rest. Editing files on the servers is pure idiocy even if you're using the system Panic does with an exact clone of the production server for dev changes and script that syncs them. Even in that scenario you can still easily end up with a FUBAR situation.

However, as wrong as that is, your comment tells me you're living in some kind of bubble. There are no right and wrong workflows or tools. Yes, there are objectively better and worse ones but not right or wrong ones. The fact is that the vast majority of developers actually do develop the way that Coda2 encourages. I don't agree with it and I know there's a better way just like you but Panic is just giving the people what they want. I just interviewed at a dev shop that actually had this exact setup: A development server. That's it. You'd edit on the dev server and hope to god you didn't screw it up. Yeah, real live, profitable, established companies do this. So do millions of developers.

No one is being an apologist. You're simply being an elitist. The world of professional web developers doesn't consist of what we all read on HN and see in the Valley. Real world development workflows would probably make someone like you puke but its reality.

People aren't convincing themselves that their tools are best. They simply have a preference for them and that's that. They don't care about all the bullshit minutiae that every HNer loves to navel-gaze about. They don't care if PHP is inconsistent and insecure - they build working apps with it that people love. I don't even know why MySQL is now a target of the hipster crowd. Is it because its too popular now? Seems like it.

But I digress. The point is that there really are as many ways to do things as there are developers and Panic shouldn't apologize for not pandering to the hipster set. Honestly, I was disappointed with Coda2 too. I used the original some years ago when I was learning and loved it. I moved on to better tools eventually but I will never say that your tool is wrong and mine is right. You build with what lets you build and I'll do the same. Some developers get by using tools some of us look down on because they simply haven't run across situations where they've hit their limits and the tools have become more of a hassle than a help. Not everyone takes the same path in their journey. Not everyone wants to be the best. Some people are cool with mediocre. Some are hobbyists. Whatever. Let them have their tools. Like I said, there's no right or wrong. Just good, better, and best (and even those come with their fine print).

[jcroft]

For the record, I (as the author of the original article) agree with all of this. My point wasn't to say that Coda is bad, but rather to explain why it's never felt like the right tool for me.