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- Some run-ons, comma splices, and parentheticals broken into more sentences - Minor fixes like mismatched singular/plurals - Some word choices tuned for nuances of meaning
153 lines
6.1 KiB
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153 lines
6.1 KiB
Plaintext
Kakoune design
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==============
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This document describes the design goals for Kakoune, including rationale.
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Interactivity
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-------------
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Unlike Vim, Kakoune does not have an underlying line-oriented editor. It is
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always expected to be used in an interactive fashion, displaying edited text in
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real time. That should not prevent Kakoune from being used non-interactively
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(executing a macro for example), but priority should be given to ease of
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interactive use.
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Limited scope
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-------------
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Kakoune is a code editor. It is not an IDE, not a file browser, not a word
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processor and not a window manager. It should be very efficient at editing code.
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As a side effect, it should be very efficient at editing text in general.
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Composability
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-------------
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Being limited in scope to code editing should not isolate Kakoune from its
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environment. On the contrary, Kakoune is expected to run on a Unix-like
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system alongside a lot of text-based tools, and should make it easy to
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interact with these tools.
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For example, sorting lines should be done using the Unix sort command, not
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with an internal implementation. Kakoune should make it easy to do that,
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hence the +|+ command for piping selected text through a filter.
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The modern Unix environment is not limited to text filters. Most people use
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a graphical interface nowadays, and Kakoune should be able to take advantage
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of that without hindering text mode support. For example, Kakoune enables
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multiple windows by supporting many clients on the same editing session,
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not by reimplementing tiling and tabbing. Those responsibilities are left
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to the system window manager.
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Orthogonality
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-------------
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Kakoune features should be as orthogonal as possible. For example, in Vim,
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there are many ways to modify the buffer: Through normal/insert
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mode, command mode, and Vim scripts. In Kakoune, modifying the buffer is
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only the job of normal/insert mode.
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That means there should be clear separation of concerns between modes:
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* normal mode is for manipulating the selection and the selection contents.
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* insert mode is for interactive insertion into the buffer.
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* command mode is for non-editing features (opening a file, setting
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options...).
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Orthogonality is an ideal; it should not forbid common sense pragmatism.
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The +gf+ and +ga+ commands are not strictly selection manipulation commands,
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but they do fit nicely with other +goto+ commands, so they are acceptable in
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normal mode even though they could arguably be moved to command mode.
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Modes should be orthogonal, as should commands within modes. For
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example, Vim uses both +d+ and +x+ to delete text, with minor differences. In
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Kakoune only +d+ exists, and the design ensures that +x+ is not needed.
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Speed
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-----
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Kakoune should be fast -- fast to use, as in a lot of editing in a few
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keystrokes, and fast to execute.
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* Vim is the benchmark here. Most editing tasks should be doable in fewer
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or the same number of keystrokes as Vim.
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* Kakoune is designed with asynchronicity in mind. Launching a background
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process and using its result when available should not block the editor.
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* Kakoune should be implemented with speed in mind. A slow editor is a
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useless one.
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Simplicity
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----------
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Simplicity is nice. Simplicity correlates with orthogonality and speed. It makes
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things easier to understand, bugs easier to fix, and code easier to change.
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* *No threading*: multithreading is a hard problem and is not well suited
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to a text editor:
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- When we want a direct result, we need to be synchronous with
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the user. A 4x speed improvement is meaningless; we need to have an
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algorithm which appears instantaneous the user.
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- When we want an asynchronous result, the processing is best left
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to a helper command which can be reused with other Unix tools.
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* *No binary plugins*: shared objects by themselves add a lot of
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complexity. Plugins add another interface to Kakoune and go against
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orthogonality. The +%sh{ ... }+ and socket interfaces should be made good
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enough for most plugin use cases.
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- Rather than writing a plugin for intelligent code completion or source
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code navigation, it is better to write an independent helper tool that can
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interact with Kakoune through the shell.
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* *No integrated scripting language*: for the same reason as binary plugins.
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* *Limited smartness*: Kakoune should not try to be too smart. Being smart
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is often unpredictable for the user and makes things context-dependent.
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When Kakoune tries to be smart, it should provide the alternative,
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'non-smart' version. For instance, +\*+ tries to detect word boundaries on
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the selection, but +alt-*+ opts out of this behavior.
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Unified interactive use and scripting
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-------------------------------------
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As an effect of both Orthogonality and Simplicity, normal mode is not
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a layer of keys bound to a text editing language layer. Normal mode *is*
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the text editing language.
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That means there is no +delete-selected-text+ command that +d+ is bound
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to. +d+ *is* the +delete selected text+ command.
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This permits both scripting and interactive use cases to share the same text
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editing language. Both use normal mode to express complex editing.
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Besides promoting simplicity by avoiding the introduction of another
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layer, this helps ensure the interactive editing language is expressive
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enough to handle complex use cases, such as indentation hooks.
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Language-agnostic
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-----------------
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Kakoune should not be tailored for writing in a specific programming
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language. Support for different languages should be provided by a kak script
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file. Built-in language support should be avoided.
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Self-documenting
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----------------
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Kakoune should be able to document its features. Live documentation, along
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with an extensive suggestion/completion system, provides the discoverability
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which is often lacking in non-GUI tools. As much as possible, documentation
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should be integrated with the code so that it stays up to date.
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Vim compatibility
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-----------------
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Kakoune is inspired by Vim and should try to keep its commands similar to
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Vim's if there are no compelling reasons to deviate. However, self-consistency
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is more important than Vim compatibility.
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