| | | Text editors |
A text editor is used to create and to modify the contents of files composed of ordinary ASCII characters. A word processor additionally formats the contents of the file, typically by inserting invisible control characters. The distinction between a text editor and a word processor tends to be blurred in the PC world, but this distinction is crucial in the Unix world. If you are writing a computer program or editing LaTeX files, then you must not use an editor that inserts invisible non-ASCII characters into your work!
Here is a brief summary of the advantages and disadvantages of some common Unix text editors (in alphabetical order), followed by a description of some common features of text editors.
The Math 696 course
pages were last modified April 5, 2005. | | | Text editors |