Atom (text editor)

{{short description|Free and open-source text and source code editor}}

{{Infobox software

| name = Atom

| logo = Atom icon.svg

| logo size = 256px

| screenshot = Atom screenshot v1.41.0.png

| caption = Atom with an open project on Windows 10

| collapsible =

| author =

| developer = GitHub (subsidiary of Microsoft){{cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsofts-future-ceo-of-github-speaks-out-on-atom-keeping-github-independent-and-more/|title=Microsoft's 'future CEO of GitHub' speaks out on Atom, keeping GitHub independent and more |work=ZDNet|access-date=21 June 2020}}

| released = {{Start date and age|2014|02|26}}{{cite web|url=http://blog.atom.io/2014/02/26/introducing-atom.html|title=Introducing Atom|work=Atom|date=26 February 2014|access-date=15 August 2015}}

| discontinued = yes

| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q16766305|P348|P548=Q2804309}}

| latest release date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q16766305|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}

| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q16766305|P348|P548=Q51930650}}

| latest preview date = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q16766305|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}

| size = 87–180 MB

| programming language = CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Less, HTML (front-end/UI)

| operating system = macOS 10.9 or later, Windows 7 and later, and Linux{{cite web|url=https://atom.io/faq|title=FAQ|publisher=Atom|access-date=12 June 2020}}

| platform =

| language = English

| language count =

| language footnote =

| genre = Source-code editor

| license = MIT License (free software){{cite news|url=http://lifehacker.com/atom-the-text-editor-from-github-goes-free-and-open-s-1573153208|title=Atom, the Text Editor from GitHub, Goes Free and Open-Source|date=8 May 2014|work=Lifehacker|first=Alan|last=Henry}}{{cite news|url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/06/github-open-sources-its-atom-text-editor/|title=GitHub Open Sources Its Atom Text Editor|date=6 May 2014|work=TechCrunch|first=Frederic|last=Lardinois}}

}}

Atom is a free and open-source text and source-code editor for macOS, Linux, and Windows with support for plug-ins written in JavaScript, and embedded Git control. Developed by GitHub, Atom was released on June 25, 2015.{{cite web |last1=Ogle |first1=Ben |date=25 June 2015 |title=Atom 1.0 |url=http://blog.atom.io/2015/06/25/atom-1-0.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809140923/http://blog.atom.io/2015/06/25/atom-1-0.html |archive-date=9 Aug 2019 |access-date=25 June 2015 |website=blog.atom.io}}

On June 8, 2022, GitHub announced Atom's end-of-life, occurring on December 15 of the same year, justifying its need "to prioritize technologies that enable the future of software development", specifically its GitHub Codespaces and Visual Studio Code, developed by Microsoft which had acquired GitHub in 2018.{{Cite web |title=Sunsetting Atom |url=https://github.blog/2022-06-08-sunsetting-atom/ |access-date=2022-06-09 |website=The GitHub Blog |date=2022-06-08 |language=en-US }}{{cite web |last1=Wiggers |first1=Kyle |title=GitHub sunsets Atom, the software dev environment it launched in 2011 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/08/github-sunsets-atom-the-software-dev-environment-it-launched-in-2011/ |website=TechCrunch |access-date=9 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220609001510/https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/08/github-sunsets-atom-the-software-dev-environment-it-launched-in-2011/ |archive-date=9 June 2022 |url-status=live |language=English |date=8 June 2022 |quote=GitHub today announced that it will sunset Atom }}

Features

Atom is a "hackable" text editor, which means it is customizable using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.{{cite web |title=Getting started with Atom |url=https://www.codecademy.com/articles/f1-text-editors |website=Codecademy |access-date=2019-10-07 |archive-date=2019-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191007191513/https://www.codecademy.com/articles/f1-text-editors |url-status=dead }}

Atom is a desktop application built using web technologies.{{cite web |title=Getting Started: Why Atom |url=https://atom.io/docs/latest/getting-started-why-atom#the-native-web |access-date=17 August 2015 |publisher=Atom project |quote=[...] we didn't build Atom as a traditional web application. Instead, Atom was a specialized variant of Chromium designed to be a text editor rather than a web browser. Every Atom window is essentially a locally-rendered web page.}} It is based on the Electron framework, which was developed for that purpose, and hence was formerly called Atom Shell.{{cite web |title=Atom Shell is now Electron |url=https://electron.atom.io/blog/2015/04/23/electron |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708182440/https://electron.atom.io/blog/2015/04/23/electron |archive-date=2017-07-08 |access-date=2017-07-15 |work=Atom}} Electron is a framework that enables cross-platform desktop applications using Chromium and Node.js.{{cite web |title=Atom GitHub Page |url=https://github.com/atom/atom |access-date=27 August 2015 |website=GitHub}}{{cite web |title=Electron GitHub Page |url=https://github.com/atom/electron |access-date=14 February 2016 |website=GitHub}}

Atom was initially written in CoffeeScript and Less, but much of it was converted to JavaScript.{{cite web |title=Hacking Atom: Tools of the Trade |url=http://flight-manual.atom.io/hacking-atom/sections/tools-of-the-trade/ |access-date=22 February 2017}}

Atom uses Tree-sitter to provide syntax highlighting for multiple programming languages and file formats.{{Cite web |last=Brunsfeld |first=Max |date=2018-10-31 |title=Atom understands your code better than ever before |url=https://github.blog/2018-10-31-atoms-new-parsing-system/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=The GitHub Blog |language=en-US}}

= Packages =

Like most other configurable text editors, Atom enabled users to install third-party packages and themes to customize the features and looks of the editor. Packages could be installed, managed and published via Atom's package manager apm. All types of packages, including but not limited to: Syntactic highlighting support for languages other than the default, debuggers, etc. could have been installed via apm. {{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

History

Atom was developed in 2008 by GitHub founder Chris Wanstrath as a text editor using the Electron Framework (originally called Atom Shell), a framework designed as the base for Atom.{{Cite magazine |last=Metz |first=Cade |title=GitHub Atom's Code-Editor Nerds Take Over Their Universe |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/06/github-atoms-code-editor-nerds-take-universe/ |access-date=2024-01-18 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}

Between May 2015 and December 2018,{{cite web |date=12 December 2018 |title=Facebook retires Nuclide extension |url=https://blog.atom.io/2018/12/12/facebook-retires-nuclide-extension.html |access-date=2019-01-12 |website=Atom Blog}} Facebook developed Nuclide{{Cite web|title=Retiring the Nuclide Open Source Project|url=https://nuclide.io/|access-date=2021-04-19|website=Nuclide}} and Atom IDE projects to turn Atom into an integrated development environment (IDE).{{cite web |title=Atom IDE |url=https://ide.atom.io/ |website=Atom IDE |access-date=2018-01-26}}{{cite web|title=Nuclide|url=https://nuclide.io/|website=Nuclide|access-date=2016-10-12}}{{cite web|title=Juno, the Interactive Development Environment|url=http://junolab.org/|website=Juno|access-date=2016-10-12}}{{cite web|title=PlatformIO IDE: The next-generation integrated development environment for IoT|url=http://platformio.org/platformio-ide|website=PlatformIO|access-date=2016-10-12|archive-date=2016-10-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013145638/http://platformio.org/platformio-ide|url-status=dead}}

In 2018 when Microsoft announced they would be acquiring GitHub, users expressed concern that Microsoft might discontinue Atom, as it competed with Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. The future GitHub CEO assured users that development and support for Atom would continue.{{cite web|title=GitHub's new CEO promises to save Atom post-Microsoft acquisition|date=8 June 2018 |url=https://thenextweb.com/news/githubs-new-ceo-promises-to-save-atom-post-microsoft-acquisition}} However, within four years, development ceased. On June 8, 2022, GitHub announced shutdown of Atom development and archival of all development repositories of Atom by December 15, 2022.

In 2022, a former developer on Atom, Nathan Sobo, announced that he was building the "spiritual successor" to Atom, titled Zed.{{cite web |last1=Sobo |first1=Nathan |title=Sunsetting Atom |url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31668426 |website=Hacker News |access-date=21 June 2022}}{{cite tweet |author=Nathan Sobo |user=nathansobo |number=1534565356131393537 |title=As Atom's sun sets, Zed's sun is rising. We're not done here.}}{{Cite web |last=Eastman |first=David |date=2023-04-08 |title=Zed: A New Multiplayer Code Editor from the Creators of Atom |url=https://thenewstack.io/zed-a-new-multiplayer-code-editor-from-the-creators-of-atom/ |access-date=2023-07-07 |website=The New Stack |language=en-US}} Unlike Atom, Zed would be written in Rust and not use the Electron framework.{{cite web |title=Built in Rust |url=https://zed.dev/tech |website=Zed – A lightning fast, collaborative code editor |access-date=21 June 2022 |archive-date=8 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608231829/https://zed.dev/tech |url-status=dead }}

On January 30, 2023, GitHub announced a breach which exposed "a set of encrypted code signing certificates" some of which were used to sign Atom releases. GitHub advised users to downgrade to earlier versions of Atom signed with a different key.{{Cite web |last=Goodin |first=Dan |date=2023-01-30 |title=GitHub says hackers cloned code-signing certificates in breached repository |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/github-says-hackers-cloned-code-signing-certificates-in-breached-repository/ |access-date=2023-03-02 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}

Following Atom's end-of-life, development continued on a community fork named Pulsar.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-15 |title=Pulsar: A Community-Led Open Source Code Editor to Continue the Legacy of Atom |url=https://news.itsfoss.com/pulsar-editor/ |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=It's FOSS News |language=en}}

License

Atom was made fully open source in May 2014 under the MIT License, including its desktop framework Electron.{{cite web |date=6 May 2014 |title=Atom Is Now Open Source |url=http://blog.atom.io/2014/05/06/atom-is-now-open-source.html |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506163807/http://blog.atom.io/2014/05/06/atom-is-now-open-source.html |archive-date=6 May 2014 |access-date=15 August 2015 |work=Atom}}