Simple Text Editor

A lightweight terminal-based text editor for GNU/Linux with zero external dependencies. Written in pure C using only standard libraries.

Vibe coded with Claude 4.5 Opus (Thinking) via Google Antigravity.

Features

• No external dependencies (only standard C library)
• Terminal-based interface
• Basic text editing capabilities
• File loading and saving
• Cursor navigation with arrow keys
• Status bar showing filename, line count, and modification status
• Syntax: works on any GNU/Linux system with a terminal

Building

Simply compile with:

make

Or manually:

gcc -Wall -Wextra -std=c99 -pedantic -o editor editor.c

Usage

To open or create a file (filename is mandatory):

./editor filename.txt

Keyboard Shortcuts

Navigation

• Arrow Keys: Move cursor up/down/left/right
• Home: Move to beginning of line
• End: Move to end of line
• Page Up/Down: Scroll by screen height

Editing

• Enter: Insert new line
• Backspace: Delete character before cursor
• Delete: Delete character at cursor (Forward Delete)
• Any printable character: Insert at cursor

File Operations

• Ctrl-S: Save file
• Ctrl-X: Save file and quit
• Ctrl-Q: Quit editor (without saving)

Technical Details

• Uses ANSI escape sequences for terminal control
• Implements raw mode terminal handling
• Dynamic memory allocation for lines
• No dependencies on ncurses, termbox, or any other library
• Pure POSIX C with standard library only

Requirements

• GNU/Linux operating system
• GCC or compatible C compiler
• Terminal emulator with ANSI escape code support

Installation

To install system-wide (requires root):

sudo make install

This will copy the binary to /usr/local/bin/.

Notes

• The editor saves files exactly as you see them
• Modified files are marked with "(modified)" in the status bar
• Currently no confirmation on quit with unsaved changes (planned feature)
• Maximum line length is dynamically allocated