[HN Gopher] Ask HN: Is there a tool you use just for reading code?
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       Ask HN: Is there a tool you use just for reading code?
        
       When writing code, I'm a huge fan of using keyboard driven
       development. But sometimes I just want to read code, either to
       review or to learn things in a mouse-driven and read-only
       environment. Git forges seem like the obvious answer to this but
       they're slower to browse and not as customizable as your favorite
       text editor/IDE.  Is there an application you use to read code? And
       am I alone in feeling the need of such tool?
        
       Author : kanonieer
       Score  : 9 points
       Date   : 2022-07-30 20:19 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
       | tgflynn wrote:
       | I don't see the need. If you're worried about making accidental
       | changes there are many ways to prevent that, depending on
       | editor/IDE and OS. For me almost all the code I look at is
       | checked into some git repo so accidental changes are a non-issue.
        
       | MatthiasPortzel wrote:
       | If it's a project I already have open in VS Code, I won't use a
       | separate tool.
       | 
       | If it's a single file I want to check out, I have an alias for
       | "nvim -R" which I use a lot. Vim's syntax highlighting is very
       | good, prevents me from making accidental changes, and is very
       | convienent if I'm in the terminal already.
       | 
       | If I'm looking at code on GitHub then their code-search feature
       | is very cool (cs.GitHub.com or by pressing cmd+shift+f on
       | GitHub).
        
       | neutered_knot wrote:
       | I do code review for legal cases on occasion. When I do, and when
       | possible as sometimes the tools I can use are specified before I
       | get the job, I like to use doxygen (https://www.doxygen.nl/) to
       | convert the code to html. It also creates call graphs.
       | 
       | It is nice because it links to function and method definitions
       | where it can, so as I go through the code I open each function I
       | am teaching in a new tab - the open tab set simulates the call
       | stack.
        
       | fxtentacle wrote:
       | The JetBrains IDEs are fantastic for exploring unknown code.
        
       | foobarandlmj wrote:
       | see: https://github.com/CoatiSoftware/Sourcetrail , even tho the
       | project is marked archived, it's pretty solid, i personally still
       | use a 2019 release.
       | 
       | i also have a self hosted instance of this :
       | https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/latest/source
       | 
       | what you asked, comes across with code auditing as well, i wasn't
       | surprised to know security researchers use sourcetrail as well.
       | 
       | hope your favourite language is supported.
        
       | pmontra wrote:
       | Most of the times I use less in the terminal. Or vi, it's not
       | easy to accidentally make a change and save it. Or the browser in
       | GitHub, Bitbucket or what else hosts the project.
       | 
       | I write code with emacs. I could turn a file in read only mode
       | but I prefer not to mix what I'm working on with what I'm only
       | reading.
        
       | water8 wrote:
       | Find and grep.
       | 
       | I don't understand what is special about what you're describing
       | that isn't done in hundred different IDEs
        
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       (page generated 2022-07-30 23:02 UTC)