Scratch
Elementary Code, formerly known as Scratch, is a code editing suite that is designed to increase productivity and provide a comfortable user interface for software developers. The software is developed by elementary LLC., which was founded in 2007 and has dedicated itself to the development of open source programs. elementary is also a proponent of open source as an ideal. The company chose to re-brand Scratch to Code to emphasize that their software is not a mere text editor, and it fits with elementary's "revised naming scheme" to drive home a software's primary intent. Scratch was first released in 2011.
- Create code for the open source elementary operating system with streamlined tools
- A library of commonly used functions and other vocabulary to plug directly into the main coding window
- It's completely free and part of the elementary OS suite of software, though using it requires the OS, which follows a "pay what you want" philosophy for purchase
- The source code for the software is available for forking and review on GitHub
- This code editor is designed specifically for elementary OS and therefore is not supported officially on Windows, MacOS or Linux
Too often, software developers and dedicated coders find themselves short-handed when it comes to having a decent user interface with which to create their programs. Thankfully, elementary Code is a wonderful, open source solution to give developers what they need. The program was designed to help with development of elementary OS, an open source operating system that is an alternative to Windows and MacOS. The software includes a handy library of functions and terminology that can be quickly selected and plugged into the working area, speeding up productivity. There's also configuration designed to easily format the code to the programmer's preferences, for example, whether or not that programmer prefers two spaces or four for indentation. The software includes extensions for Terminal, web preview, Vim emulation and indentation detection. Like everything else about elementary, the software is extremely lightweight and extraordinarily fast, even for a simple code editor. But the power behind it makes it seem anything but simple.