🐍 Viper

A minimal, dark-themed Python compiler for Linux.

Just Python 3 + Tkinter. No Electron. No bloat. Zero dependencies.

Features • Quick Start • Architecture • Shortcuts • Contributing

---

Why Viper?

Most Python IDEs are heavy, slow, or require dozens of dependencies. Viper is the opposite — a clean Python package that gives you everything needed to write and run Python code on Linux. No setup wizards. No configuration files. No internet required.

Features

Editor

Feature	Description
Multi-tab editing	Open and switch between multiple files without saving
Syntax highlighting	Keywords, builtins, strings, comments, decorators, numbers
Line numbers	With active line indicator
Current line highlight	Subtle dark highlight on cursor line
Auto-indent	Smart indentation after : blocks
Auto-close	Brackets ()[]{} and quotes ""''
Find bar	Search with match count and prev/next navigation
Zoom	Ctrl+/- to resize editor font (8–28px)

Terminal

Feature	Description
Run code	F5 to execute, real-time stdout/stderr streaming
Inline input()	Type directly next to the prompt in the output area — just like a real terminal
pip install	Install packages directly from the terminal
Expression eval	Type Python expressions for quick evaluation
Command history	Arrow keys to cycle through previous commands

Workflow

Feature	Description
No forced saving	Open, edit, and run files freely — save when you want
Multi-file open	Select multiple files at once from the file dialog
Content-hash tracking	Only marks files as modified when content actually changes
Tab management	Close tabs with ✕, prompted to save only when needed

Quick Start

git clone https://github.com/nafiul-afk/viper.git
cd viper
make run

Install System-Wide

sudo make install    # installs to /usr/local
viper                # launch from anywhere

Install via pip

pip install -e .     # editable install
viper                # launch from anywhere

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall
# or
pip uninstall viper-ide

Requirements

Python 3.8+ with Tkinter:

# Ubuntu / Debian
sudo apt install python3-tk

# Fedora
sudo dnf install python3-tkinter

# Arch
sudo pacman -S tk

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    app.py                        │
│  Main window • Toolbar • Shortcuts • File I/O    │
│  Process management • pip runner                 │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                  │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │              editor.py                     │  │
│  │  Tab bar • Gutter • Text widget            │  │
│  │  Syntax highlighting • Find bar            │  │
│  │  Auto-close • Content-hash dirty tracking  │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                  │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────┐  │
│  │             terminal.py                    │  │
│  │  Output display • Inline process input     │  │
│  │  Command history • Tag-based coloring      │  │
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────┘  │
│                                                  │
├───────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┤
│   theme.py    │          constants.py            │
│  Color scheme │  Keywords • Builtins • Patterns  │
│  30 tokens    │  Font chains • Regex builder     │
└───────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘

Design Decisions

• Content-hash dirty tracking — Tkinter's <<Modified>> event fires on tag operations (syntax highlighting, line highlighting), causing false "unsaved changes" dialogs. Viper uses hash(content) comparison instead, eliminating false positives entirely.

• Per-keysym auto-close bindings — A catch-all <Key> binding blocks text input on some Tkinter/Tcl versions. Viper binds <KeyPress-parenleft>, <KeyPress-bracketleft>, etc. individually to avoid this.

• Threaded I/O — Subprocess stdout/stderr are read in daemon threads using os.read() for immediate output (no newline buffering). The main thread polls the queue every 50ms, keeping the UI responsive during code execution.

• Inline input() I/O — When a process is running, the terminal output area becomes editable. A Tkinter text mark tracks the boundary between program output and user input. The write() method uses a save-insert-restore pattern so that program output arriving mid-typing is placed correctly before the user's pending keystrokes.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
F5	Run code
Ctrl+S	Save
Ctrl+N	New tab
Ctrl+O	Open file(s)
Ctrl+W	Close tab
Ctrl+F	Find
Ctrl+D	Duplicate line
Ctrl+/	Toggle comment
Ctrl++	Zoom in
Ctrl+-	Zoom out
Ctrl+0	Reset zoom
Tab	Indent
Shift+Tab	Unindent
↑ / ↓	Terminal history

Project Structure

viper/
├── viper/
│   ├── __init__.py         # Package metadata
│   ├── __main__.py         # Entry point
│   ├── app.py              # Main application (~360 lines)
│   ├── editor.py           # Code editor (~435 lines)
│   ├── terminal.py         # Terminal widget (~215 lines)
│   ├── theme.py            # Color scheme (37 lines)
│   └── constants.py        # Language constants (63 lines)
├── run.py                  # Convenience launcher
├── pyproject.toml          # Modern Python packaging
├── Makefile                # Build / install / uninstall
├── CHANGELOG.md            # Release history
├── CONTRIBUTING.md         # Contribution guidelines
├── LICENSE                 # MIT License
├── README.md
└── .gitignore

Philosophy

One theme. One purpose. Zero compromise.

Viper is not trying to be VS Code. It is a focused tool for writing and running Python on Linux — nothing more, nothing less. Every feature exists because it removes friction, not because it looks good on a feature list.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

License

MIT — see LICENSE

---

_{Built with 🐍 by Nafiul Islam}