Helix icon

Helix

Helix is a version control software system that allows developers to track changes to source code and documents over time. It facilitates collaboration and managing revisions.

What is Helix?

Helix is a distributed version control system that developers use to track changes to software development projects over time. Unlike centralized version control systems, Helix allows developers to work locally and offline and have full history and version tracking abilities without necessarily being connected to the central Helix repository.

Key features and benefits of Helix include:

  • Distributed architecture - No centralized master repository is needed, developers can commit even when offline
  • Great for collaboration - Facilitates team-based development, transparent view of changes
  • Versioning and history - Complete long-term change history so you can go back to any version
  • Branching and merging - Create isolated development branches to work on new features or test ideas
  • Reliability and flexibility - Developers can use Helix repos on their local machines and it has robust tool support

Because of features like distributed architecture and strong branching/merging, Helix has become very popular for collaborative software development at technology and software companies worldwide.

The Best Helix Alternatives

Top Apps like Helix

Visual Studio Code, Sublime Text, Notepad++, Geany, Eclipse, GNU nano, Neovim, Kate, VSCodium, GNU Emacs, Doom Emacs, Spacemacs, Spacevim, SpaceNeovim, Emacs Prelude are some alternatives to Helix.

Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a source code editor developed by Microsoft that includes support for debugging, embedded Git control, syntax highlighting, intelligent code completion, snippets, and code refactoring. It's free, open-source, and available for Windows, Linux, and macOS.As a lightweight but powerful code editor, VS Code gives developers a...

Sublime Text

Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, markup, and prose. It has a clean, intuitive, and unobtrusive user interface with excellent performance. Sublime Text is highly customizable and extensible with Python plugins. Key features include:Fast, lightweight, and responsive user interfaceCross-platform availability for Linux, Windows, and macOSPowerful search...

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a popular open-source text and source code editor for Windows. It supports a wide variety of programming languages and markup languages with syntax highlighting, code folding, macro abilities and more. Some key features of Notepad++ include:Syntax highlighting for over 100 programming languages like C++, Java, HTML, XML and...

Geany

Geany is a lightweight, fast, and minimalist cross platform text editor targeted at developers and power users. It has support for syntax highlighting for over 150 programming and markup languages including C, Java, HTML, LaTeX, CSS, Python, Perl, and more.Some of the key features of Geany include:Syntax highlighting for...

Eclipse

Eclipse is a multi-language software development environment comprising an integrated development environment (IDE) and an extensible plug-in system. It is written mostly in Java and can be used to develop applications in Java and other programming languages including C/C++, Python, PHP, and more.Some key features of Eclipse include...

GNU nano

GNU nano is a popular open source text editor for Unix-like operating systems. It is designed to be simple and intuitive to use, making it a good choice for beginners or casual users who just need to make quick text edits.Some key features of nano include:Easy to navigate...

Neovim

Neovim is a hyperextensible Vim-based text editor developed since 2014. It is a rewrite and refactoring of Vim to allow for greater plugin/extension development. Neovim offers the core functionality of Vim - the keybindings, editing modes, configuration options that users are familiar with - just with a more streamlined codebase...

Kate

Kate is a free and open-source text editor that provides advanced features for programmers and developers. It is available on Linux, UNIX, Windows and macOS platforms.Some key features of Kate include:Syntax highlighting for over 200 file formats including C, C++, Java, HTML, XML, PHP, JavaScript, Perl and moreCode folding...

VSCodium

VSCodium is an open source, community-driven alternative to Microsoft's popular Visual Studio Code editor. It is based on the same codebase as Visual Studio Code, but stripped of any Microsoft branding, telemetry or tracking. Just like VS Code, VSCodium is a free, cross-platform source code editor with support for debugging...

GNU Emacs

GNU Emacs is a powerful, customizable, open source text editor and more. At its core is an interpreter for Emacs Lisp, a dialect of the Lisp programming language with extensions to support text editing. This extensibility allows Emacs to provide far more than your average text editor.Beyond text editing...

Doom Emacs

Doom Emacs is an extensive configuration framework designed to enhance your Emacs experience. It optimizes and configures Emacs for improved ergonomics, UI, and workflows. The goal of Doom Emacs is to provide sensible defaults with minimal and optional configuration to help users become productive quickly.Some highlights of Doom Emacs...

Spacemacs

Spacemacs is a popular open source configuration layer and distribution for the Emacs text editor. It builds on top of Emacs by adding support for Vim key bindings through the Evil mode extension, as well providing a curated set of extensions and customizations aimed at improving the user experience.The...

Spacevim

Spacevim is a distribution of the Vim text editor that has been preconfigured with many plugins and settings to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience. The goal of Spacevim is to build a lightweight and fast Vim configuration focused on ergonomics and customizability.Some of the key features that come...

SpaceNeovim

SpaceNeovim is a graphical user interface for the Neovim text editor built using Rust. Its goal is to provide a fast, customizable, and easy-to-use interface for Neovim.Some key features of SpaceNeovim include:Fuzzy finding - Quickly open files and jump between symbols in your projectsCode completion - Intelligent suggestions...

Emacs Prelude

Emacs Prelude is an Emacs distribution that aims to enhance the default Emacs experience. It provides sensible defaults, out-of-the-box experience, and bundles many useful Emacs packages.Key features of Emacs Prelude include:Enhanced UX - Provides an improved out-of-the-box experience by bundled many Emacs packages for a variety of use...