Graviton: A Minimalist Open Source Code Editor

Graviton is a free and open source, cross-platform code editor in development. The sixteen years old developer, Marc Espin, emphasizes that it is a ‘minimalist’ code editor. I am not sure about that but it does have a clean user interface like other modern code editors like Atom.

Graviton Code Editor Interface
Graviton Code Editor Interface

The developer also calls it a lightweight code editor despite the fact that Graviton is based on Electron.

Graviton comes with features you expect in any standard code editors like syntax highlighting, auto-completion etc. Since Graviton is still in the beta phase of development, more features will be added to it in the future releases.

Graviton Code Editor with Syntax Highlighting
Graviton Code Editor with Syntax Highlighting

Feature of Graviton code editor

Some of the main highlights of Graviton features are:

  • Syntax highlighting for a number of programming languages using CodeMirrorJS
  • Autocomplete
  • Support for plugins and themes.
  • Available in English, Spanish and a few other European languages.
  • Available for Linux, Windows and macOS.

I had a quick look at Graviton and it might not be as feature-rich as VS Code or Brackets, but for some simple code editing, it’s not a bad tool.

Download and install Graviton

Graviton Code Editor
Graviton Code Editor

As mentioned earlier, Graviton is a cross-platform code editor available for Linux, Windows and macOS. It is still in beta stages which means that more features will be added in future and you may encounter some bugs.

You can find the latest version of Graviton on its release page. Debian and Ubuntu users can install it from .deb file. AppImage has been provided so that it could be used in other distributions. DMG and EXE files are also available for macOS and Windows respectively.

If you are interested, you can find the source code of Graviton on its GitHub repository:

If you decided to use Graviton and find some issues, please open a bug report here. If you use GitHub, you may want to star the Graviton project. This boosts the morale of the developer as he would know that more users are appreciating his efforts.

I believe you know how to install a software from source code if you are taking that path.

In the end…

Sometimes, simplicity itself becomes a feature and the Graviton’s focus on being minimalist could help it form a niche for itself in the already crowded segment of code editors.

At It’s FOSS, we try to highlight open source software. If you know some interesting open source software that you would like more people to know about, do send us a note.

About the author
Abhishek Prakash

Abhishek Prakash

Created It's FOSS 11 years ago to share my Linux adventures. Have a Master's degree in Engineering and years of IT industry experience. Huge fan of Agatha Christie detective mysteries 🕵️‍♂️

Become a Better Linux User

With the FOSS Weekly Newsletter, you learn useful Linux tips, discover applications, explore new distros and stay updated with the latest from Linux world

It's FOSS

Great! You’ve successfully signed up.

Welcome back! You've successfully signed in.

You've successfully subscribed to It's FOSS.

Success! Check your email for magic link to sign-in.

Success! Your billing info has been updated.

Your billing was not updated.