The built-in Textpattern editor is not terribly convenient. I tend to set up my site through dreamweaver, and set it up so that upon saving, it automatically saves onto the server. I set up a separate JS and CSS folder that does not rely on the Textpattern interface. This way, I also reduce the capacity for my clients to "play" with any of the code.

So i edit the Pages within Textpattern after I have built them in HTML and CSS first.

I just find Dreamweaver convenient for hand-coding because of it's auto-completion, colour coding, etc. I've tried TextMate, Coda, and others, but I just find Dreamweaver pretty straightforward.

Hope that answers your question...