Dynamic formatting of source code in editors

Abstract

Source Code Editor, also simply known as code editor, is normally a text editor program or a set of programs that is specifically designed to edit, modify or change the source code of computer programs by software developers and programmers. It might either just be an independent standalone application or it might be consolidated into an integrated development environment (IDE). A code editor is an essential programming tool, as writing and altering source code is the most indispensable work of programmers. Source code editors contain a few components that are particularly intended to improve and in addition accelerate the contribution of source code; for example, syntax highlighting, code indentation, auto-completion of words, and bracket matching functionality. However, the existing systems do so statically; they analyze the entire source file in one go and reformat it when invoked. Static formatting or the batch-processing approach, is very inconvenient since the user must manually call the auto-formatter every time, and on the entire source file. The proposed system focuses on separating the content (source code) from the presentation (code style). The proposed system will provide all the following functionalities: word auto-completion, and auto-formatting which includes auto-indentation, auto-spacing, and auto-comments. The proposed project dynamically reformats the source code as per the programming language chosen by the user. The system will automatically format the source code as the user types it into the editor. This saves the programmer's time and help them to concentrate on writing the code which would otherwise have been wasted in manually reformatting the code, or invoking the automatic formatter simultaneously.