Kon

Developing application is an activity which still heavily relies on code writing, with an abundance of programming languages at your disposal. However, code doesn’t necessarily have to be written down in a dedicated app, and can just as easily be composed even in a plain editor. In this regard, Kon combines different text operations, including syntax highlighting for working on your projects.

The application wraps all of its features in a classic window frame, just so you don’t feel overwhelmed by the abundance of buttons, and functions. Most of the space is where text input goes, while the lower part is the output window, which shows the process results when taking your project for a test run.

Although it’s not exactly designed to be a fully-fledged IDE, the application does support different popular programming languages. On the one hand, this can be noticed when trying to open a file, with the possibility to load C++, K files, SYN, PRC, FNC, PAS, INC, CMD, SQL, BAS, VB, XML, XSL, and XSLT. The same goes for output, so you can continue later on or edit in different apps.

The writing pad is pretty intuitive in this manner, and helps you write, and keep track of text. Line numbering on the side makes code identification a lot easier, with great support from built-in syntax highlighters. You can switch to a HEX view of the code, with the options menu letting you change visual styles such as font type, color, and size.

As far as simple text operations are concerned, you can use basic operations like undo and redo, cut, copy, and paste, column selection, convert tabs to spaces, and even a built-in search function with options to replace strings. There’s a macro tool you can use to capture sessions, and save them to enhance workflow.

On an ending note, Kon feels like a lightweight application overall, but it’s packed with a little bit of everything. Basic text writing tools make it easy to edit text, while support for different programming languages helps you create source code in an intuitive, customizable environment.