SimpleIDE
A lightweight, professional VB.NET IDE built with GTK# 3 on Linux using .NET 8.0. SimpleIDE provides a modern development environment specifically designed for VB.NET projects on Linux systems.
Features
Code Editor
Multi-file tabbed editing with automatic file type detection
with automatic file type detection VB.NET syntax highlighting with customizable color themes
with customizable color themes Line numbers with click-to-select and drag-to-select functionality
with click-to-select and drag-to-select functionality Smart indentation and automatic bracket matching
and automatic bracket matching Undo/Redo system (Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+R) with per-character tracking
(Ctrl+Z, Ctrl+R) with per-character tracking Code folding for regions and block structures
for regions and block structures Intelligent code completion with hover tooltips and parameter hints
with hover tooltips and parameter hints Real-time syntax error detection with squiggly underlines
Project Management
Project Explorer with .vbproj file parsing and management
with .vbproj file parsing and management Object Explorer showing hierarchical code structure
showing hierarchical code structure Auto-detection of project files in current directory
of project files in current directory Solution and project file support (.sln, .vbproj)
(.sln, .vbproj) Reference management for NuGet packages and assemblies
Build System
Integrated build system using dotnet CLI
using dotnet CLI Async build operations with real-time output
with real-time output Dockable build output panel with error/warning navigation
with error/warning navigation One-click build and run (F5/F6)
(F5/F6) Support for Debug and Release configurations
Click-to-navigate error and warning messages
AI Integration
Claude AI assistant for code generation and refactoring
for code generation and refactoring Multiple chat conversations with persistent history
with persistent history Claude Projects integration for context-aware assistance
for context-aware assistance Code explanation and documentation generation
and documentation generation Smart code suggestions based on project context
User Interface
Dark and Light themes with system theme detection
with system theme detection Customizable toolbar with common actions
with common actions Enhanced status bar showing cursor position, language mode, and encoding
showing cursor position, language mode, and encoding Welcome splash screen with recent projects
with recent projects Dockable panels for tools and output
for tools and output Integrated help system with searchable documentation
Developer Tools
Git integration for version control operations
for version control operations Find and Replace with regex support (Ctrl+F)
with regex support (Ctrl+F) Go to line navigation (Ctrl+G)
navigation (Ctrl+G) Block commenting (Ctrl+')
(Ctrl+') Smart indentation (Ctrl+], Ctrl+[)
(Ctrl+], Ctrl+[) Settings persistence across sessions
Installation
Prerequisites
Linux operating system (Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 34+, or similar)
.NET 8.0 SDK
GTK# 3.24 or higher
Install .NET 8.0
# Ubuntu/Debian wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/ $( lsb_release -rs ) /packages-microsoft-prod.deb -O packages-microsoft-prod.deb sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install -y dotnet-sdk-8.0 # Fedora sudo dnf install dotnet-sdk-8.0
Install GTK# Dependencies
# Ubuntu/Debian sudo apt-get install libgtk-3-0 libgtk-3-dev # Fedora sudo dnf install gtk3 gtk3-devel
Build SimpleIDE
# Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/jamesplotts/simpleide.git cd simpleide # Restore dependencies dotnet restore # Build the project dotnet build --configuration Release # Run SimpleIDE dotnet run --configuration Release
Usage
Command Line Interface
# Launch with auto-detection (finds .vbproj in current directory) SimpleIDE # Open specific project SimpleIDE MyProject.vbproj # Open multiple files SimpleIDE Program.vb Module1.vb # Create new project SimpleIDE -n MyApp -t Console # Show help SimpleIDE --help
Keyboard Shortcuts
File Operations
Ctrl+N - New file
- New file Ctrl+O - Open file
- Open file Ctrl+S - Save current file
- Save current file Ctrl+Shift+S - Save all files
- Save all files Ctrl+W - Close current tab
- Close current tab Ctrl+Q - Quit application
Editing
Ctrl+Z - Undo
- Undo Ctrl+R / Ctrl+Y - Redo
/ - Redo Ctrl+X - Cut
- Cut Ctrl+C - Copy
- Copy Ctrl+V - Paste
- Paste Ctrl+A - Select all
- Select all Ctrl+F - Find
- Find Ctrl+H - Find and replace
- Find and replace Ctrl+G - Go to line
- Go to line Ctrl+' - Toggle comment
- Toggle comment Ctrl+] - Indent
- Indent Ctrl+[ - Outdent
Build and Debug
F5 - Run project
- Run project F6 - Build project
- Build project Shift+F6 - Rebuild project
- Rebuild project Ctrl+Shift+B - Build solution
- Build solution Ctrl+F5 - Run without debugging
Navigation
F12 - Go to definition
- Go to definition Ctrl+T - Go to type
- Go to type Ctrl+, - Go to all
- Go to all Alt+Left - Navigate back
- Navigate back Alt+Right - Navigate forward
Project Structure
SimpleIDE/ ├── Program.vb # Entry point ├── MainWindow.vb # Main IDE window ├── MainWindow.*.vb # Partial classes for main window ├── Editors/ │ ├── CustomDrawingEditor.vb # Main code editor implementation │ └── EditorTheme.vb # Theme definitions ├── Widgets/ │ ├── ProjectExplorer.vb # Project tree view │ ├── CustomDrawObjectExplorer.vb # Code structure view │ └── BuildOutputPanel.vb # Build output display ├── Models/ │ ├── SyntaxNode.vb # Syntax tree representation │ ├── SourceFileInfo.vb # File metadata │ └── BuildConfiguration.vb # Build settings ├── Syntax/ │ ├── VBSyntaxHighlighter.vb # Syntax highlighting engine │ └── VBParser.vb # VB.NET parser ├── Managers/ │ ├── ProjectManager.vb # Project file management │ ├── BuildManager.vb # Build system integration │ └── SettingsManager.vb # Settings persistence ├── Utilities/ │ ├── FileHelper.vb # File operations │ └── CssHelper.vb # GTK CSS styling └── Resources/ └── *.png # Embedded icons and images
Screenshots
Main Editor View
Configuration
Settings File Location
Settings are stored in ~/.config/SimpleIDE/settings.json
Theme Configuration
{ "Theme" : " Dark " , "EditorTheme" : " VS Code Dark " , "FontFamily" : " Monospace " , "FontSize" : 12 , "ShowLineNumbers" : true , "EnableSyntaxHighlighting" : true , "TabWidth" : 4 , "UseSpacesForTabs" : true }
Environment Variables
SIMPLEIDE_SETTINGS_PATH - Override default settings location
- Override default settings location SIMPLEIDE_THEME - Set color theme (Dark|Light|System)
- Set color theme (Dark|Light|System) SIMPLEIDE_DEBUG - Enable debug logging (1|true)
Development
Coding Conventions
The project follows strict coding conventions:
Hungarian Notation for variables: l = Local variable
= Local variable p = Private field
= Private field v = Parameter
= Parameter g = Global variable Enum Pattern: All enums start with eUnspecified and end with eLastValue XML Documentation: All public members must have XML documentation comments Error Handling: Try-Catch blocks in all methods with console logging
Building from Source
# Debug build dotnet build --configuration Debug # Release build with optimizations dotnet build --configuration Release -p:Optimize=true # Create self-contained executable dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64 --self-contained
Running Tests
# Run all tests dotnet test # Run with coverage dotnet test --collect: " XPlat Code Coverage "
Contributing
Contributions are welcome! Please follow these guidelines:
Fork the repository Create a feature branch ( git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature ) Follow the coding conventions documented in the project Ensure all XML documentation is complete Test your changes thoroughly Commit your changes ( git commit -m 'Add amazing feature' ) Push to the branch ( git push origin feature/amazing-feature ) Open a Pull Request
Known Issues
TextBuffer operations require SelectRange + DeleteSelection instead of Delete
+ instead of Icon resources must use full namespace: SimpleIDE.icon.png
GTK# Path conflicts require fully qualified System.IO.Path
License
This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, version 3.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.
Acknowledgments
GTK# team for the excellent .NET bindings
Microsoft for .NET 8.0 and VB.NET
The open source community for inspiration and support
Note: IntelliSense is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. SimpleIDE's code completion features are independently developed.
Contact
Author : James Duane Plotts
: James Duane Plotts Repository : https://github.com/jamesplotts/simpleide
: https://github.com/jamesplotts/simpleide Issues: https://github.com/jamesplotts/simpleide/issues
SimpleIDE - Bringing professional VB.NET development to Linux