Geany 2.0

Overview

Geany is an Integrated Development Environment or programming environment which is based around the KDE and GNOME Linux version, but the software was developed to run independently on Windows.

The development package, which essentially is an advanced coding editor, can also compile code, includes syntax highlighting, auto-completion with symbol names, automatic closing of HTML and XML tags, symbol lists, basic project management, and code folding, plus many other features.

There an established plug-in support which already includes a number of plug-ins. Six plug-ins are always included with Geany. A File browser, the ability to export to different formats, a class builder for different formats, ability to insert HTML characters like “&amp”, different saving actions, a split window interface. There are also scores of other plug-ins that have been created and can be separately installed that further extend the features of Geany in many different and useful ways.

Installation

The installation is pretty straightforward with Geany for Windows. The full package includes the GTK 2 runtime libraries which is needed because unless they have already been installed, Windows will not have this runtime library available (a runtime library is a collection of code instructions that multiple programs can make use of and reduces the size of the application setup).

The software will run on several versions of Windows. There are also native versions available for several flavors of Linux, and Solaris too.

Interface

The interface includes a top menu and toolbar. A search function is also included.

Symbols or documents can be shown optionally via a tabbed interface on the left side. The main coding window has numbered lines with multiple tabs when more than one coding document is open for editing. A message pane is shown at the bottom of the application window.

Pros

• A lightweight Integrated Development Environment ported from Linux to Windows
• Syntax highlighting
• Code folder
• Auto-completion for symbol names
• Automatic closing of HTML and XML tags
• Symbol lists
• Basic project management
• Plug-in support with scores of plug-ins already created and several included in default installation
• Supports many languages and file types

Cons

• A few features are missing on the Windows port of this title
• Requires GTK2 runtime libraries to be installed (available in the full install package)

Conclusion

Geany is a good development environment for coders who program in a variety of languages. The software is similar to the Linux version so coders who like to work cross-platform may like Geany as an option for that.