zograscope
Main purpose of zograscope is implementation of syntax-aware diff (currently for C, C++ and GNU Makefile languages).
However, the infrastructure for doing this makes it possible to implement various other tools that don't require precise understanding of the code like compilers do.
There are additional tools for highlighting, searching and collecting statistics about source code.
GitHub Download zograscope Website
Usage
zograscope is available as an AppImage which means "one app = one file", which you can download and run on your Linux system while you don't need a package manager and nothing gets changed in your system. Awesome!
AppImages are single-file applications that run on most Linux distributions. Download an application, make it executable, and run! No need to install. No system libraries or system preferences are altered. Most AppImages run on recent versions of Arch Linux, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, openSUSE, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and other common desktop distributions.
Running zograscope on Linux without installation
Unlike other applications, AppImages do not need to be installed before they can be used. However, they need to be marked as executable before they can be run. This is a Linux security feature.Behold! AppImages are usually not verified by others. Follow these instructions only if you trust the developer of the software. Use at your own risk!
Download the zograscope AppImage and make it executable using your file manager or by entering the following commands in a terminal:
chmod +x ./*.AppImageThen double-click the AppImage in the file manager to open it.
Sandboxing zograscope
If you want to restrict what zograscope can do on your system, you can run the AppImage in a sandbox like Firejail. This is entirely optional and currently needs to be configured by the user.
Updating zograscope
If you would like to update to a new version, simply download the new zograscope AppImage.
The zograscope AppImage also can be updated using AppImageUpdate. Using this tool, zograscope can be updated by downloading only the portions of the AppImage that have actually changed since the last version.
Integrating AppImages into the system
If you would like to have the executable bit set automatically, and would like to see zograscope and other AppImages integrated into the system (menus, icons, file type associations, etc.), then you may want to check the optional appimaged daemon.
Note for application authors
Thanks for distributing zograscope in the AppImage format for all common Linux distributions. Great! Here are some ideas on how to make it even better.
Pro Tips for further enhancing the zograscope AppImage
Thanks for shipping AppStream metainfo inside your AppImage. Please open a pull request on https://github.com/AppImage/appimage.github.io/blob/master/data/zograscope if you have changed it and would like to see this page updated accordingly.
If you would like to see a donation link for the application here, please include one in the AppStream data.