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.
- 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
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.
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]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.
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)
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.
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.