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author | 2012-03-07 09:31:09 -0500 | |
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committer | 2012-03-07 09:31:09 -0500 | |
commit | cbe7f531f956573cf55efba417965976672e6c63 (patch) | |
tree | 17fb2eaa554fa188484d5ee5bb8db4217afd7e33 /doc/manual/01_Introduction.md | |
parent | 96c85498c019e381d0aeed2e33e626563563ea8c (diff) | |
download | textadept-cbe7f531f956573cf55efba417965976672e6c63.tar.gz textadept-cbe7f531f956573cf55efba417965976672e6c63.zip |
Renamed manual pages 1-9 to preserve sort order.
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diff --git a/doc/manual/01_Introduction.md b/doc/manual/01_Introduction.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..0bdf97e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/manual/01_Introduction.md @@ -0,0 +1,63 @@ +# Introduction + +## Overview + + + +Textadept is a fast, minimalist, and ridiculously extensible cross-platform text +editor for programmers. Written in a combination of C and [Lua][] and +relentlessly optimized for speed and minimalism over the years, Textadept is an +ideal editor for programmers who want endless extensibility options without +sacrificing speed or succumbing to code bloat and featuritis. + +[Lua]: http://lua.org + +### Fast + +Textadept is _fast_. It starts up instantly and has a very responsive user +interface (UI). Even though the editor is mostly written in Lua, Lua is one of +the fastest scripting languages available. With [LuaJIT][], Textadept is faster +than ever before, though using LuaJIT is overkill. + +[LuaJIT]: http://luajit.org + +### Minimalist + +Textadept is minimalist. Not only is this apparent in the UI, but the editor's C +core was designed to never exceed 2000 lines of code and its Lua extension code +is not supposed to go beyond 4000 lines. After 4 1/2 years of development, +Textadept has fewer lines of code (~5000) than it did in its first release +(~5600) and is vastly superior in every respect. + +### Ridiculously Extensible + +Textadept is ridiculously extensible. It was designed to be that way from the +very beginning. The features came later. Most of Textadept is written in Lua, +from syntax highlighting to opening and saving files to searching and replacing +and more. Textadept gives you complete control over the entire application using +Lua. You can do everything from moving the caret to changing menus and key +commands on-the-fly to handling UI events. The possibilities are limitless. + + + +## Manual Notation + +* `~/` is denoted as the user's home directory. On Windows machines this is the + value of the `USERHOME` environment variable (typically `C:\Users\<username>\` + or `C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\`). On Linux and Mac OSX machines it + is the value of `HOME` (typically `/home/<username>/` and `/Users/<username>/` + respectively). +* Any relative directory paths, i.e. paths that do not begin with `/` or `C:\`, + are relative to the location of Textadept. +* Key combinations are not case-sensitive. `Ctrl+N` means the `N` key is pressed + with only the `Control` key being held down, not the `Shift` key. + `Ctrl+Shift+N` means the `N` key is pressed with both `Control` and `Shift` + keys being held down. The same notation is applicable to key chains: + `Ctrl+N, N` vs. `Ctrl+N, Shift+N`. In the first key chain, `Control` and `N` + are pressed followed by `N` with no modifiers. The second has `Control` and + `N` pressed followed by `Shift` and `N`. +* When mentioning key commands, the Mac OSX equivalent will often be shown in + parenthesis. It may be tempting to assume that some Windows/Linux keys map to + Mac OSX's (e.g `Ctrl` to `⌘`), but this is not always the case. Please do not + view the key equivalents as translations of one another, but rather as + separate entities. This will minimize confusion. |