What is codemirror?
CodeMirror is a versatile text editor implemented in JavaScript for the browser. It is specialized for editing code and comes with a number of language modes and addons that implement more advanced editing functionality. A rich programming API and a CSS theming system are available for customizing CodeMirror to fit the needs of the project.
What are codemirror's main functionalities?
Syntax highlighting
This feature allows for syntax highlighting of code written in various programming languages. The example code initializes a CodeMirror instance with JavaScript syntax highlighting.
var editor = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById('code'), {mode: 'javascript'});
Code editing
CodeMirror provides a rich text editor for code, with features like auto-indentation, line numbers, and bracket matching. The example code creates an editor instance with some JavaScript code pre-filled.
var editor = CodeMirror(document.body, {value: 'function myScript(){return 100;}', mode: 'javascript'});
Autocompletion
Autocompletion can be enabled to suggest completions for the current token. The example code sets up an event listener to trigger autocompletion on certain inputs.
editor.on('inputRead', function onChange(editor, input) { if (input.text[0] === ';' || input.text[0] === ' ') { return; } CodeMirror.commands.autocomplete(editor); });
Themes
CodeMirror supports various themes to customize the appearance of the editor. The example code initializes a CodeMirror instance with the Monokai theme.
var editor = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById('code'), {mode: 'javascript', theme: 'monokai'});
Addons
CodeMirror has a variety of addons that can extend its functionality, such as displaying line numbers or matching brackets. The example code enables line numbers and bracket matching for the editor.
var editor = CodeMirror.fromTextArea(document.getElementById('code'), {mode: 'javascript', lineNumbers: true, matchBrackets: true});
Other packages similar to codemirror
ace
Ace is a standalone code editor written in JavaScript. It matches many of the features of CodeMirror, such as syntax highlighting, themes, and extensions. However, Ace is known for its performance and is used in large-scale applications like Cloud9 IDE.
monaco-editor
Monaco Editor is the code editor that powers VS Code, which is known for its rich IntelliSense, integrated debugging, and embedded Git control. It's more feature-rich compared to CodeMirror and is designed to work well in any browser.
brace
Brace is a fork of Ace that is browserify compatible. It has a similar feature set to Ace and by extension, CodeMirror, but it is designed to be easier to install and use with browserify.