ImGuiColorTextEdit
ImGuiColorTextEdit is a C++ widget that adds a syntax-highlighting text editor to ImGui, supporting multiple languages and features like undo/redo, UTF-8, and error markers. It is actively maintained, MIT-licensed, and well-suited for embedding code editors in ImGui applications.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | BalazsJako/ImGuiColorTextEdit |
| Owner | BalazsJako |
| Primary language | C++ |
| License | MIT — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 1.7k |
| Forks | 347 |
| Open issues | 61 |
| Latest release | Unknown |
| Last updated | 2025-11-24 |
| Source | https://github.com/BalazsJako/ImGuiColorTextEdit |
What ImGuiColorTextEdit is
A stateful ImGui widget (not immediate-mode) providing syntax highlighting via extensible language definitions, with fast hand-written C/C++ tokenization and slower regex-based highlighting for other languages. Supports large files, variable-width fonts, identifier tooltips, and custom color palettes.
Get the ImGuiColorTextEdit source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/BalazsJako/ImGuiColorTextEdit.gitcd ImGuiColorTextEdit# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- Requires ImGui as a dependency; ensure your ImGui setup (renderer, platform bindings) is stable and compatible.
- C/C++ syntax highlighting is fast; non-C/C++ languages (SQL, Lua, GLSL/HLSL) use std::regex and may need frame-budget tuning for large files.
- UTF-8 support is built-in; verify font rendering in ImGui handles your target character sets.
- Error markers and identifier declarations require application code to populate and manage the data structures.
- State is maintained per-editor instance; plan memory and lifecycle management if embedding multiple editors.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- High-Performance Regex Syntax Highlighting Required — Non-C/C++ language highlighting relies on std::regex, which is slow; amortized across frames but may not meet real-time syntax coloring demands for large files in other languages.
- Immediate-Mode UI Paradigm is Strict Requirement — This widget maintains complex persistent state in object instances rather than following ImGui's pure immediate-mode design, which may conflict with strict UI architecture patterns.
- Cross-Platform Mobile or Web Deployment — C++ ImGui dependency and desktop-focused design make it unsuitable for mobile or web-based code editors without significant porting effort.
- Mature, Production-Grade Release Cycle Required — No versioned releases; latest code is active as of Nov 2024, but the README explicitly states 'code is work in progress'—stability and API guarantees are not established.
License & commercial use
MIT License grants permissive rights: use, modify, and distribute freely in both open-source and proprietary projects, provided the original license and copyright are retained in copies and substantial portions.
MIT is a permissive OSI license suitable for commercial use. Ensure you retain the original license header in your source and binary distributions. No commercial support or warranties are implied; review the project's issue backlog (61 open) and lack of formal releases before relying on it in production.
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Low |
| DEV.co fit | Good |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Standard C++ memory safety practices apply. Handles UTF-8 and large files; no explicit hardening against malformed input described. Regex-based highlighting uses std::regex, which has known ReDoS risks if syntax rules are untrusted. Input validation, buffer overflow protection, and handling of pathological file sizes should be reviewed in integration context.
Alternatives to consider
Dear ImGui TextEdit (built-in)
ImGui provides basic text input; lacks syntax highlighting and advanced editing features but requires no external integration.
scintilla/SciTE or libscintilla
Mature, battle-tested code editor library with rich language support and performance; requires heavier integration and not ImGui-native.
Ace Editor (JavaScript) or Monaco Editor
Web-based alternatives for browser or Electron apps; feature-rich but require different UI paradigm (web instead of C++ ImGui).
Build on ImGuiColorTextEdit with DEV.co software developers
Our engineers can guide deployment, customize syntax rules, optimize performance, and ensure production-readiness. Contact us to discuss your requirements.
Talk to DEV.coRelated open-source tools
Surfaced by semantic similarity across the DEV.co open-source index.
Related on DEV.co
Explore the category and the services that help you build with it.
ImGuiColorTextEdit FAQ
Can I use this in a commercial product?
Does it support my language (Python, Java, etc.)?
Is there a stable release or versioning?
How does it handle very large files?
Custom software development services
Need help beyond evaluating ImGuiColorTextEdit? DEV.co is a software development agency offering software development services and web development for teams of every size. Our software developers and web developers build custom software, web applications, APIs, and open-source databases integrations — and maintain them long-term.
Need help integrating ImGuiColorTextEdit into your ImGui application?
Our engineers can guide deployment, customize syntax rules, optimize performance, and ensure production-readiness. Contact us to discuss your requirements.