SciTE is an easy-to-use text editor that has many features for programming. Its footprint size and functionality make it perfect for installing on any system, even if you don’t have experience with Scintilla or GTK.

More valuable features include syntax styling, error indicators, and code completion. It also has a selection margin that can be filled with markers like those found commonly used by debuggers to indicate breakpoints or other vital points when exploring an application’s functionality (e). The user interface provides greater control than what you might find elsewhere; this makes it easier for developers who need these types of tools but don’t want something too complicated-looking while still offering plenty of ” Done deal!” style options if that more their speed!

SciTE is highly configurable. Although there is no graphical preferences window, settings can be altered by editing plain text configuration files. It is possible to have different settings for each language and project, as well as global or per user options. There are menu options in the standard install to open these files in the editor. These allow a high level of customization over things like shortcut keys, tabbing, code folding, fonts, and syntax highlighting.

In addition, the Lua programming language is embedded in SciTE, allowing the user further customization. One can write Lua scripts that have access to the contents of the buffer and the Scintilla API. The scripts can be triggered by a shortcut key, or on an event, providing the possibility for implementing auto-complete or other hook.

Features

Features include replace in selection, regular expression replace with subgroups, find in files, code folding, API files, copy formatted, abbreviations, multiple selection, and support for variable width fonts. The editing layout consists of multiple tabs containing source, and additionally an output pane that displays output from scripts that have been run.

SciTE supports syntax highlighting of many languages. The full list of recognized languages can be found in the official documentation.

With version 4.0.5, large file support is possible.

With version 4.1.0, it has experimental support for right-to-left languages, like Arabic.

Update Ubuntu

Before going into the tutorial, the first step is to run an apt update, which ensures your system is up-to-date to avoid any conflicts.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install SciTE – APT Method

The first option is to install SciTE using the apt command from Ubuntu 20.04 repository. For most users, this is the most recommended way to install.

In your terminal, use the following command to install the text editor.

sudo apt install scite -y

Install SciTE – Flatpak Method

The second option is to use the Flatpak package manager, which is not installed on Ubuntu distributions given Snap, which is Flatpak’s rival, is owned by Canonical and Ubuntu. However, Flatpak is still available to install from Ubuntu’s default repository.

The extra benefit of using Flatpak installations is that you will always have the most up-to-date version compared to Ubuntu which focuses on stability with older versions that only see updates for security issues or serve bugs.

First, install the Flatpak manager; this can be skipped if you already have it installed.

sudo apt install flatpak -y

Next, you need to enable Flatpack using the following command in your terminal:

sudo flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

For users installing Flatpak for the first time, it is often recommended to reboot your system. Failure to do this can occur with odd issues arising, such as paths not being generated for icons.

reboot

SKIP THE REBOOT IF FLATPAK IS INSTALLED.

Now install using the following flatpak command.

flatpak install flathub org.scintilla.SciTE -y
Code language: CSS (css)

How to Launch SciTE

Now that you have the text editor installed, launching can be done in two ways.

In your terminal type:

scite

If you want to launch and use the terminal, send the process to the background to continue using the terminal.

scite &

Alternatively, Flatpak users will need to launch using the command below from a terminal instance:

flatpak run org.scintilla.SciTE
Code language: CSS (css)

However, this isn’t practical, and you would use the following path on your desktop to open with the path: Activities > Show Applications > ScITE

Once open, you can begin using the SciTE text editor, do take the time to check out the options and configure the text editor to your style and purpose. For such a small editor, it does come with lots of features.

How to Update SciTE

Depending on the method of installation used, the following commands can be used to update the software and any system packages. Ideally, using the terminal update command should be done even if you have auto-updates set up in your desktop GUI to ensure everything is updating correctly.

APT Update Method

sudo apt upgrade && sudo apt upgrade

Flatpak Update Method

flatpak update

How to Remove (Uninstall) SciTE

Use one of the following commands to suit the original installation method for users who no longer require the application.

APT Remove Method

sudo apt autoremove scite --purge -y

Flatpak Remove Method

flatpak uninstall --delete-data org.scintilla.SciTE -yCode language: CSS (css)

Next, run the following command for any leftover clean-up.Click To Copy!

flatpak remove --unused

Comments and Conclusion

In the tutorial, you have learned how to install SciTE on Ubuntu 21.04 LTS desktop.

SciTE is a great text editor for programming that can be run on Ubuntu systems. The user interface is developed using GTK, making it look great and work flawlessly. Additionally, the memory footprint of SciTE is much smaller than other text editors, making it an excellent choice for those with limited resources.

Another interesting article may be: The Best compression utilities for Ubuntu