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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.
+ideal editor for programmers who want endless extensibility 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 the optional [LuaJIT][] version,
+interface. Even though the editor is mostly written in Lua, Lua is one of the
+fastest scripting languages available. With the optional [LuaJIT][] version,
Textadept is faster than ever before.
[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 5 years of development, Textadept
-has maintained the same amount of code since its inception (~5600 lines) while
-evolving into a vastly superior editor.
+Textadept is minimalist. Not only is this apparent in its appearance, but the
+editor's C core was designed to never exceed 2000 lines of code and its Lua
+extension code is capped at 4000 lines. After 5 years of development, Textadept
+has maintained the same amount of code since its inception while evolving into a
+vastly superior editor.
### 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,
+very beginning. The features came later. Most of Textadept's internals use 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.
+commands on-the-fly to handling core events. The possibilities are limitless.
![Split Views](images/splitviews.png)
## 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 and ncurses equivalents 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 `⌘`) or ncurses' (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.
+This manual uses notation that is worth clarifying.
+
+Directories and file paths are represented like this: `/path/to/file_or_dir`.
+(On Windows machines, `/` and `\` can be used interchangeably as directory
+separators.) Any relative paths, paths that do not begin with `/` or `C:\`, are
+relative to the location of Textadept. `~/` 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, BSD, and Mac OSX machines it
+is the value of `HOME`, typically `/home/<username>/` and `/Users/<username>/`
+respectively.
+
+Key bindings are represented like this: `Ctrl+N`. They are not case sensitive.
+`Ctrl+N` means the `N` key is pressed with only the `Control` modifier key being
+held down, not the `Shift` modifier key. `Ctrl+Shift+N` means the `N` key is
+pressed with both `Control` and `Shift` modifiers 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 key bindings are mentioned, the Mac OSX and ncurses equivalents are often
+shown in parenthesis. It may be tempting to assume that some Windows/Linux keys
+map to Mac OSX's (e.g. `Ctrl` to `⌘`) or ncurses' (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.