What's the problem with inkscape? It has some bugs, but otherwise it works quite well
Inkscape is a vector editor that can export to SVG, but that's a bit different than an editor specifically for the SVG file type.
I've often found myself wanting to edit SVG code directly while viewing the result. This maybe not the most common approach, but sometimes you want to be be dealing with specifics that relate to the fact that you're working with an actual SVG file, and not just a vector image.
Isn't inkscape's native data format SVG?
https://inkscape.org/en/develop/about-svg/
> The Inkscape project does not only use SVG as its native file format, it also takes part in the further development and refinement of SVG features by delegating a representative to the W3C SVG Working Group.
It's more of just their personal classification of the software than anything in my reading.
That said, Inkscape can default to save in SVG, can actively contribute to the SVG standard, but still be / come across as primarily a vector image editor.
I think you can use the XML editor in the edit menu to directly edit the SVG in inkscape
for what it's worth, if you click on an element and hit ctrl-shift-x you'll get the underlying svg code and you can edit it directly as you wish
Inkscape's brilliant, but its niggles aren't trivial. Leaving transforms in the exported svg code has been pissing me off for years.