Chocolat 3.4

Chocolat is a text editor with the advantage of being a native Cocoa-based application. It is in many respects similar to other tools of its type so you can probably start using it right away. Unfortunately, though, the app’s link to the online help documentation does not work, probably because it is no longer hosted there.

Chocolat has a minimalistic interface; in fact, most of the window’s space is devoted to viewing and editing the text. Luckily, it lets you open various files simultaneously. Likewise, you can view different sections of the same document at the same time thanks to its vertical split layout.

Although you can use it for simple text, its main advantages are related to writing in various languages. In this regard, the tool supports a long list of languages that includes ActionScript, Arduino, Avian, LaTeX, Matlab, Pascal, PHP, HTML, Prolog and Ruby, to mention but a few. So, when you are writing code, it helps you by completing code, checking errors in real time and folding the selected code. Likewise, it is quite convenient that it can search the whole project for a given string and replace it with another. What is more, it lets you preview HTML and Markdown as you type it.

All in all, Chocolat is just another text editor out there. Regrettably, this product has not been updated for a while, which means that it is practically obsolete compared with other more modern editors. It is also a shame that it does not support third-party plugins, a commonly used means to add new functionalities. If in spite of all this, you decide to give it a try, you should know that this a shareware product you can try without feature limitations for a limited period of time.