BBEdit prepares text for transport across communications links (as in an
e-mail system), processing by another program (such as a compiler, HTML
renderer, or database system), and to serve for light-duty text-composition
tasks. Text editors function in contrast to word processors, whose purpose
is to prepare documents for optimal visual presentation. Text editors focus
on the transformation and manipulation of text as data, rather than on manipulation
of visual attributes (such as style or color). By design, BBEdit is optimized
for the editing, searching, transformation, and manipulation of text. It
provides an array of general-purpose features which are useful for many
tasks, and it includes many features which have been specifically developed
in response to the needs of software developers and HTML authors.