RText: A solution in search of a problem.

Too bad the author of RText didn't do a little market research before
jumping in to produce the editor everyone is waiting for.  What's been
achieved so far sounds a lot like the state of jEdit circa 2000, except
that jEdit already had a more sophisticated conception.  Its subsequent
expansion and refinement over 20 years make it a formidable act to follow.
And RText sounds like a one developer effort.  He'll need to be superman to
outdo jEdit.

Of course, jEdit had the benefit of being designed and managed by Slava
Pestov (at the ripe age of 14).  Slava absolutely doesn't crave praise, so
I'll just call him extremely intelligent.  I followed the forum when some
features were still under design. He was not a dictator: everything was
hashed out in a collegial way.  The search dialog was discussed and revised
for a long time before they were satisfied.

Two jEdit features of note, which are not obtained cheaply, are its extreme
robustness and its novel syntax coloring engine (which, I think, was
Slava's baby).

jEdit is written of, by and for programmers and they are harsh critics of
software that loses their work.  jEdit doesn't.  Being rather lazy, I often
shut down an editing montage of 10 or 20 windows, some subdivided, by
shutting down Windows 10.  I know that if I wait 30 seconds after any
editing change, then on restart jEdit will reconstruct exactly what I was
looking at.

jEdit has XML based syntax coloring that has uses beyond the default
language 'mode' files.  For example, my pet language NetRexx, which is the
best Java replacement you have never heard of (it produces classes which
are absolutely interoperable with javac's classes but has a simplified
syntax with powerful extensions).  I have a personal programming standard
and a NetRexx mode that colors it.  It allows coloring subfields of an
identifier so that type and symantics and a conventional variable name are
given distinct background colors.  Easy with jEdit.

BTW RText, like seemingly every editor that comes out of the 'nix world,
does not have the concept of coloring the  background of text.  Is it
missing capabilities, or imagination?

I also produce programmer-grade (not fussy) docs in 'jEdit mode' that
allows including correctly colored examples in various programming
languages.  I also write custom mode files to color end-user reports.

A replacement for jEdit would have to have some dramatic new principle to
be worth adopting.  For example, IntelliJ, which I have used in Android,
has phenomenal capabilities - in a small number of languages.  But this
requires profound knowledge of language syntax and semantics.  And its
editor is rudimentary by jEdit standards.  If it had a jEdit face and some
reasonable way for a user to adapt it to new languages it would be a world
beater.  But I'm not holding my breath.

So in the meantime I'll stay with jEdit, a prospect that doesn't disturb me
at all.

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