<s>
A	O
source-code	B-Application
editor	I-Application
is	O
a	O
text	B-Application
editor	I-Application
program	O
designed	O
specifically	O
for	O
editing	O
source	O
code	O
of	O
computer	B-Application
programs	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
may	O
be	O
a	O
standalone	O
application	O
or	O
it	O
may	O
be	O
built	O
into	O
an	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
(	O
IDE	O
)	O
or	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
are	O
a	O
fundamental	O
programming	B-Application
tool	I-Application
,	O
as	O
the	O
fundamental	O
job	O
of	O
programmers	O
is	O
to	O
write	O
and	O
edit	O
source	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
have	O
characteristics	O
specifically	O
designed	O
to	O
simplify	O
and	O
speed	O
up	O
typing	O
of	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
,	O
indentation	O
,	O
autocomplete	O
and	O
brace	B-Application
matching	I-Application
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
editors	O
also	O
provide	O
a	O
convenient	O
way	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
compiler	B-Language
,	O
interpreter	B-Application
,	O
debugger	B-Application
,	O
or	O
other	O
program	O
relevant	O
for	O
the	O
software-development	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
,	O
while	O
many	O
text	B-Application
editors	I-Application
like	O
Notepad	B-Application
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
edit	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
if	O
they	O
do	O
n't	O
enhance	O
,	O
automate	O
or	O
ease	O
the	O
editing	O
of	O
code	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Structure	B-Application
editors	I-Application
are	O
a	O
different	O
form	O
of	O
source-code	B-Application
editor	I-Application
,	O
where	O
instead	O
of	O
editing	O
raw	O
text	O
,	O
one	O
manipulates	O
the	O
code	O
's	O
structure	O
,	O
generally	O
the	O
abstract	B-Data_Structure
syntax	I-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
this	O
case	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
,	O
validation	O
,	O
and	O
code	O
formatting	O
are	O
easily	O
and	O
efficiently	O
implemented	O
from	O
the	O
concrete	O
syntax	O
tree	O
or	O
abstract	B-Data_Structure
syntax	I-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
,	O
but	O
editing	O
is	O
often	O
more	O
rigid	O
than	O
free-form	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Structure	B-Application
editors	I-Application
also	O
require	O
extensive	O
support	O
for	O
each	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
thus	O
are	O
harder	O
to	O
extend	O
to	O
new	O
languages	O
than	O
text	B-Application
editors	I-Application
,	O
where	O
basic	O
support	O
only	O
requires	O
supporting	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
or	O
indentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
this	O
reason	O
,	O
strict	O
structure	B-Application
editors	I-Application
are	O
not	O
popular	O
for	O
source	O
code	O
editing	O
,	O
though	O
some	O
IDEs	O
provide	O
similar	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
source-code	B-Application
editor	I-Application
can	O
check	O
syntax	O
while	O
code	O
is	O
being	O
entered	O
and	O
immediately	O
warn	O
of	O
syntax	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
compress	O
source	O
code	O
,	O
typically	O
converting	O
common	O
keywords	O
into	O
single-byte	O
tokens	O
,	O
removing	O
unnecessary	O
whitespace	O
,	O
and	O
converting	O
numbers	O
to	O
a	O
binary	O
form	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
tokenizing	O
editors	O
later	O
uncompress	O
the	O
source	O
code	O
when	O
viewing	O
it	O
,	O
possibly	O
prettyprinting	B-Application
it	O
with	O
consistent	O
capitalization	O
and	O
spacing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
do	O
both	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Language	O
Server	O
Protocol	O
,	O
first	O
used	O
in	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
Visual	B-Language
Studio	I-Language
Code	I-Language
,	O
allows	O
for	O
source	B-Application
code	I-Application
editors	I-Application
to	O
implement	O
an	O
LSP	O
client	O
that	O
can	O
read	O
syntax	O
information	O
about	O
any	O
language	O
with	O
a	O
LSP	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
allows	O
for	O
source	B-Application
code	I-Application
editors	I-Application
to	O
easily	O
support	O
more	O
languages	O
with	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
,	O
refactoring	O
,	O
and	O
reference	O
finding	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
source	B-Application
code	I-Application
editors	I-Application
such	O
as	O
Neovim	O
and	O
Brackets	B-Application
have	O
added	O
a	O
built-in	O
LSP	O
client	O
while	O
other	O
editors	O
such	O
as	O
Emacs	B-Application
,	O
vim	B-Application
,	O
and	O
Sublime	B-Language
Text	I-Language
have	O
support	O
for	O
an	O
LSP	O
Client	O
via	O
a	O
separate	O
plug-in	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1985	O
,	O
Mike	O
Cowlishaw	O
of	O
IBM	O
created	O
LEXX	B-Application
while	O
seconded	O
to	O
the	O
Oxford	O
University	O
Press	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
LEXX	B-Application
used	O
live	O
parsing	O
and	O
used	O
color	O
and	O
fonts	O
for	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
initial	O
public	O
release	O
of	O
vim	B-Application
was	O
in	O
1991	O
,	O
the	O
syntax	O
highlighting	O
feature	O
was	O
not	O
introduced	O
until	O
version	O
5.0	O
in	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2003	O
,	O
Notepad++	B-Language
,	O
a	O
source	B-Application
code	I-Application
editor	I-Application
for	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
was	O
released	O
by	O
Don	O
Ho	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2015	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
Visual	B-Language
Studio	I-Language
Code	I-Language
as	O
a	O
lightweight	O
and	O
cross-platform	O
alternative	O
to	O
their	O
Visual	B-Application
Studio	I-Application
IDE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2016	O
,	O
Visual	B-Language
Studio	I-Language
Code	I-Language
became	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
product	O
using	O
the	O
Language	O
Server	O
Protocol	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
source-code	B-Application
editor	I-Application
is	O
one	O
component	O
of	O
a	O
Integrated	B-Application
Development	I-Application
Environment	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
a	O
standalone	O
source-code	B-Application
editor	I-Application
,	O
an	O
IDE	O
typically	O
also	O
includes	O
debugger	B-Application
and	O
build	O
tools	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Standalone	O
source	B-Application
code	I-Application
editors	I-Application
are	O
preferred	O
over	O
IDEs	O
by	O
some	O
developers	O
when	O
they	O
believe	O
the	O
IDEs	O
are	O
bloated	O
with	O
features	O
they	O
do	O
not	O
need	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
source-code	B-Application
editors	I-Application
and	O
IDEs	O
have	O
been	O
involved	O
in	O
ongoing	O
user	O
arguments	O
,	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
jovially	O
as	O
"	O
holy	O
wars	O
"	O
by	O
the	O
programming	O
community	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Notable	O
examples	O
include	O
vi	B-Language
vs.	I-Language
Emacs	I-Language
and	O
Eclipse	B-Application
vs.	O
NetBeans	B-Application
.	O
</s>
