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| title | date | draft | description | tags | categories | series | favorite | disable_feed | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gap Buffer | 2024-07-06T21:27:19+01:00 | false | As featured in GNU Emacs |
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false | false |
The Gap Buffer is a popular data structure for text editors to represent files and editable buffers. The most famous of them probably being GNU Emacs.
What does it do?
A Gap Buffer is simply a list of characters, similar to a normal string, with the added twist of splitting it into two side: the prefix and suffix, on either side of the cursor. In between them, a gap is left to allow for quick insertion at the cursor.
Moving the cursor moves the gap around the buffer, the prefix and suffix getting shorter/longer as required.