Is there a good text editor for VHDL(GHDL)?

Question

I would appreciate very much if someone could recommend me a good text editor for VHDL.

Answer 1

The absolute easiest way to go would be gedit with plugins (specifically, the code snippet plugin)

sudo apt-get install gedit gedit-plugins

gedit gedit-plugins

gedit has the benefit of working well with GHDL.

Emacs (which should come pre-installed on your machine) has a very useful VHDL mode documented here.

emacs23 emacs23-nox

If you want something more full-featured, Scriptum is very full-featured and comes with support for other languages such as Verilog, C/C++, and Xilinx UCF. Its download page is here. (You have to fill out a form, but it's free and doesn't require a license.)

Answer 2

Vim includes a syntax file for VHDL by default.

Although a little tough to understand at first once you get used to it there are few editors faster or more useful than VIM.

You can install it by running sudo apt-get install vim-nox or if you want it with the small gtk shell sudo apt-get install vim-gtk.

vim-nox vim-gtk

Be sure to run vimtutor if this is your first time using vim, it will help you get up to speed on how vim is used. Alternativly you could take a look at this online vim tutorial.

Answer 3

You're opening pandora's box here! Most editors will support syntax coloring for a wide range of languages, including VHDL. So your question could be re-interpreted as a question for just a nice editor.

Specifically for VHDL however, Emacs, VI, Notepad++ and UltraEdit are very popular as editors. See this poll and this poll. There's not Notepad++ for Linux, though (afaik).