README
¶
qedit
qedit is a simple and easy to maintain editor, designed to run portably on as many operating systems and architectures as possible. It does so by leveraging the cross-compile features of Go, and the very portable tcell terminal library. A side effect of using Go is the absolute simplicity with which the project can be maintained. For an open source project under the very permissive MIT license, this is important.
Table of Contents
Goals
- An editor designed in the KISS principle.
- DOS-like user interface library for Go/tcell (pkg/ui)
- Modern rope buffer (used in emacs)
- Modern text editing, including: copy/paste, mouse support, selection, etc.
- Btree-based tiling and floating window management (panels)
- Extensions via IPC or some scripting language
- Built-in terminal
Screenshots
Development
Building
You will need:
- A clone or download of this repository
- A Go compiler version supporting Go 1.16+
- A temporary internet connection
With Go successfully in your path variable, open a terminal and navigate to the directory containing go.mod, and execute the following command:
go build -o qedit ./cmd/qedit.go
But I prefer to use go run ./cmd/qedit.go while developing.
Profiling
Insert the -cpuprofile or -memprofile flags before the list of files when running qedit, like so:
go run ./cmd/qedit.go -cpuprofile cpu.prof [files]
# or
qedit -cpuprofile cpu.prof [files]
Layout
This project follows the project layout standard for Go projects. At first glance it nearly makes no sense without the context, but here's the rundown for our project:
- cmd/ ‒ Program entries.
- internal/ ‒ Private code only meant to be used by qedit.
- pkg/ ‒ Public code in packages we share with anyone who wants to use them.
- pkg/buffer/ ‒ Buffers for text editors and contains an optional syntax highlighting system.
- pkg/ui/ ‒ The custom DOS-like user interface library used in qedit.
Contributing
I love contributions!
Currently, I am focused on working solo, so there aren't many issues authored and I'm doing most work quietly. If I know there are people interested in contributing, I will change how I am working on qedit.
As for types of contributions: I am currently seeking bug fixes, and resolving all of
my TODO comments in the code. Or possibly removing them and turning them into issues.
Possibly the best contribution I could receive is someone using my editor as a daily-driver
(bless them for their troubles) and reporting issues or improvements.
If you would like to communicate, you can message me on Matrix: @fivemoreminix:matrix.org,
or Discord: fivemoreminix#7637, or even email: thelukaswils ATT (the google one)
For Answers and Questions (FAQ)
Why another text editor?
I like using my own software. I also like retro aesthetic, so I designed my own modern text editor around the simple and stylish MS-DOS EDIT.COM editor. I am pleased to use it for all of my text editing purposes, and it is what 80% of qedit has been edited with.
I made qedit simple and easy to maintain, and MIT licensed, so anyone like you can make a fork and have your own personal editor.
Why Go?
Truthfully, I spent about a year delaying work on the editor, because I didn't want to use Go, Python, or any other language. I wanted to use Zig, because it was portable, fast, and efficient. I spent months working on termelot, a terminal library similar to tcell, but for Zig. When Zig is ready, I will continue work on the library, but this editor is likely to forever remain in Go.
I finally came around when I decided that the tcell library is excellent, and would make programming my editor easy. I started working, and I haven't regretted choosing Go, and the performance of the editor is fantastic.
Directories