On the design of text editors
Nicolas P. Rougier

TL;DR
This paper investigates the implicit design choices in text editors, exploring whether they stem from ignorance or habit, and illustrates possible alternatives without advocating for a specific one.
Contribution
It characterizes implicit design choices in text editors and explores alternative options without prescribing a particular design.
Findings
Implicit choices often stem from developer habits
Alternatives to common design choices are identified
Understanding these choices can inform future editor design
Abstract
Text editors are written by and for developers. They come with a large set of default and implicit choices in terms of layout, typography, colorization and interaction that hardly change from one editor to the other. It is not clear if these implicit choices derive from the ignorance of alternatives or if they derive from developers' habits, reproducing what they are used to. The goal of this article is to characterize these implicit choices and to illustrate what are some alternatives without prescribing one or the other.
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Taxonomy
TopicsUsability and User Interface Design · Interactive and Immersive Displays · Design Education and Practice
