A new way of writing Applesoft Basic programs has been created by Andres Lozano, known in the Apple ][ world as Loz. Virtual Basic is a complete BASIC with all of the same operators and commands as Applesoft, except that it is written in a style much like other high level languages of the modern era.
The entire system for Virtual Basic is a series of python scripts. If you are writing Virtual Basic programs, they can written using an external editor such as Textedit or Espresso. The Virtual Basic website has a complete Virtual Basic to Applesoft converter so you can write your Apple ][ program in Virtual Basic and drop the converted program right into an emulator or onto an actual Apple ][. The Virtual Basic Reference Manual and everything you need is on the site and all of the scripts are free to download, modify and even re-distribute under the copyleft status (Free Art License) of the program.
Examples, manual, and converter is available on the website at http://virtualbasic.org/