lighttable

Light Table is an open‑source, cross‑platform code editor and integrated development environment that emphasizes real‑time feedback and inline code evaluation. It was developed by a team led by Chris Granger and released to the public as a community project. The editor is designed to provide a lightweight, customizable editing experience with an emphasis on immediacy and experimentation.

A defining feature of Light Table is inline evaluation, which allows code to be executed and results to appear directly beside or within the editor. This live feedback model is complemented by a plugin‑based architecture that enables language support and tooling to be added or extended without altering the core editor. The interface focuses on staying unobtrusive to the code, with an emphasis on keyboard-driven workflows and configurable editor behavior.

Implementation and scope: Light Table is built with standard web technologies and runs on major desktop platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. Language support and additional capabilities are provided through a modular plugin system, allowing users to customize and extend the editor according to their development needs.

History and status: Light Table attracted attention for its live, in‑editor coding experience and its extensible design. After an initial period of activity, development slowed and the official project saw fewer updates as time progressed. Nonetheless, community forks and plugins continued to exist, preserving a niche for users who valued inline evaluation and a pluggable editing environment. The project is often cited in discussions of early efforts to integrate live feedback into code editing and as a precursor to later editors that emphasize real‑time interaction.