SciTE is a free text and source code editor based on Scintilla. It’s a handy and lightweight editor designed to help you write or edit plain text, as well as source code files in over 30 different languages! SciTE features code completion, code folding, syntax highlighting, automatic syntax styling, call tips, and error indication.
Scintilla is a free library that offers standard text editing components, with special emphasis on features which are useful in advanced code editing and debugging. It’s an open source project that comes with complete source code and licence agreement to permit its use in the development of any free or commercial application. SciTE, Notepad++, Notepad2, ZionEdit, and CodeBlocks are some stand-alone applications (Editors and IDEs) based on Scintilla.
SciTE is available as a freeware and can be downloaded using the link given at the end of this article. It’s a cross-platform editor and is currently available for Intel Windows (XP or later) and Linux Operating Systems with GTK+. SciTE is completely portable and can run without prior installation.
A Brief Overview of SciTE:
SciTE is a simple and easy to use editor that comes with a multi-tabbed, customizable interface. You can create or edit files in SciTE in different programming languages including HTML, XML, C/C++, C#, CSS, Java, JavaScript, PHP, and Perl, or simply use it as a plain text editor.
The program window consists of two panes: the “Editing” pane and the “Output” pane. The Editing pane provides area to edit the source code and the Output pane displays the output results after you compile, debug, or execute the code. You can refer the online SciTE documentation to get more details on the software.
Apart from that, SciTE offers many interesting features that makes it a great tool to edit text and source code files. Let’s have a quick look on them.
Key Features of SciTE:
- Free text and source code editor.
- Based on powerful Scintilla components.
- Cross-platform app.
- Easily handle large files.
- Syntax highlighting.
- Automatic syntax styling.
- Code completion.
- Code folding.
- Call tips.
- Error indicators.
- Bracket matching.
- Expand/Insert abbreviation.
- Line numbering and margins.
- Extension support.
- File encoding.
- Exporting files to HTML, XML, RTF, PDF, or LaTex.
- Ability to quickly minimize or expand piece of code.
- Supports over 30 different programming languages.
- Advanced search and replace options.
- Multi-tabbed interface.
- Highly configurable .
- Ability to Compile, Debug, or Run code directly from the editor window.
- Simple and easy to use.
- Handy and lightweight.
- Completely portable.
The Final Verdict:
SciTE is a nice, feature-rich text and source code editor for scripters, coders, and even non-technical users. It’s probably the best free editor available out there that works with multiple languages and provide in-built support for code debugging and execution. Download free and give it a try.
