Writing my own text editor, and daily-driving it

(blog.jsbarretto.com)

38 points | by todsacerdoti 3 hours ago ago

9 comments

  • whynotmaybe 3 minutes ago

    Fond memory of when I wrote an editor in the 90's because we didn't want to use "ms edit" for COBOL and asm files.

    Syntax coloring, fast buffering and even a screen saver.

    You could even call the compiler directly from it.

    All this running on a pentium 120 and it felt a thousands times faster than today's vscode.

    But vscode can edit multiple files at the same time...

  • mllev15 2 minutes ago

    Josh Barretto is the genius behind the Super Mario 64 GBA port. I would gladly use his editor.

  • mudkipdev 14 minutes ago

    I would recommend using the ropey crate for easy performance gains. A string buffer is quick to implement but you will hit a wall as soon as you need to edit large files.

  • willrshansen an hour ago

    This feels like two steps up from a highly customized vim config. But I want one step up.

    I want to be able to piece together an editor from modular task specific executables. Different programs for file searching, input mapping, buffer modification and display, etc. Probably similar to how LSPs are already separated from most editors.

    One step less hardcore than writing a whole editor.

    Anyone know of any existing projects along these lines?

    • kalterdev 38 minutes ago

      Acme [1]

      It steps back from the “customize everything” mantra, believing that approach leaves users with an underdeveloped essential system. But it still has two major APIs: one for window manipulation [2], the other for text-based integration with the surrounding system via plumber [3].

      All textual CLI tools (that is, those without pseudographics) work by default and are the heart of its style.

      I use Acme for everything except web browsing (although most links are still managed by Acme).

      [1]: http://youtu.be/dP1xVpMPn8M

      [2]: http://9p.io/magic/man2html/4/acme

      [3]: http://9p.io/sys/doc/plumb.html

  • abktowa 18 minutes ago

    Should make my own text editor. Would make for an interesting project at least.

  • codazoda an hour ago

    I use my own text editor too. Nobody else seems to get value from it. I’m still surprised by the value we get from home grown solutions.

    • altilunium 15 minutes ago

      I use my own text editor too.

      Sometimes I get surprise questions from my friends whenever they see my screen. “What’s that?” “That’s my own text editor!”

    • willrshansen an hour ago

      Didn't even link it. :(