Code browser
Encyclopedia
A code Browser is an editor, sometimes with folding
or other advanced layout capabilities, designed to structure source code
or, by extension, other kinds of text file
. Since it is typically aware of the syntax (and, to some extent, the symantics) of the text it is displaying, it is able to use various techniques to make navigation and cross-referencing faster and easier; this allows it to present a good overview of the code of large projects.
An editor of this type is positioned between a traditional text editor, a Smalltalk
class browser
and
a web browser
such as Mozilla. It displays a structured text file (marker-based folding) hierarchically, sometimes using multiple panes. A code browser usually supports syntax highlighting
for major languages, and frequently allows users to define highlighting schemes for other files relevant to their activities; in some cases it may also integrate the output of other programs such as gdb.
Although code browsers were initially designed to edit programs, they can also be used for different tasks such as plain text outlining or helping to understand existing source code.
Folding editor
A folding editor is a text editor which supports text folding or code folding, a mechanism allowing the user to hide and reveal blocks of text—usually named...
or other advanced layout capabilities, designed to structure source code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
or, by extension, other kinds of text file
Text file
A text file is a kind of computer file that is structured as a sequence of lines of electronic text. A text file exists within a computer file system...
. Since it is typically aware of the syntax (and, to some extent, the symantics) of the text it is displaying, it is able to use various techniques to make navigation and cross-referencing faster and easier; this allows it to present a good overview of the code of large projects.
An editor of this type is positioned between a traditional text editor, a Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
class browser
Class browser
A class browser is a feature of an integrated development environment that allows the programmer to browse, navigate, or visualize the structure of object-oriented programming code.- History :...
and
a web browser
Web browser
A web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
such as Mozilla. It displays a structured text file (marker-based folding) hierarchically, sometimes using multiple panes. A code browser usually supports syntax highlighting
Syntax highlighting
Syntax highlighting is a feature of some text editors that display text—especially source code—in different colors and fonts according to the category of terms. This feature eases writing in a structured language such as a programming language or a markup language as both structures and...
for major languages, and frequently allows users to define highlighting schemes for other files relevant to their activities; in some cases it may also integrate the output of other programs such as gdb.
Although code browsers were initially designed to edit programs, they can also be used for different tasks such as plain text outlining or helping to understand existing source code.