4 <%inherit file="_templates/i3.mako" />
5 <div id="info" class="clearfix">
8 <img id="screenshot" src="/screenshots/i3-6.png" width="375" height="219">
11 <h2>Do What I Mean. Good Docs. Clean Code. Sounds good?</h2>
15 <span style="font-weight: bold; color: #3A8ECD; margin-right: .5em">➡</span>
16 Download the latest version
17 <span style="margin-left: 2em; color: #c0c0c0">3.ε</span>
24 i3 is a tiling window manager, completely written from scratch. It is primarily
25 targeted at advanced users and developers. Based upon the experiences we made
26 when wanting to hack/fix wmii, we agreed upon the following goals for i3:
31 Write well readable, well <strong>documented</strong> code. Create additional
32 documentation on how to extend i3 by explaining its internal workings.
34 This includes being modifiable by people who do know how to program but who are
35 not necessarily familiar with all of X11’s internals. That is, document why
36 things happen and when they happen so that the user gets a picture of the whole
37 process a Window Manager is responsible of by just reading the source code.
40 Use xcb as far as possible (it does not provide functions for some features
41 yet, like XKB) instead of Xlib. xcb has a much cleaner API and should be faster
42 in quite a lot of situations.
45 Implement multi-monitor correctly, that is by assigning each workspace to a
46 virtual screen. Especially make sure that attaching and detaching new monitors
47 like video projectors works during operation and does the right thing. Also
48 provide support for rotated monitors.
51 Use a tree as data structure. This allows for more flexible layouts than
52 the column-based approach used by other window managers.
55 Implement different modes, like in vim. You can use different keybindings
56 when in the 'resize' mode than when you are in the default mode, for
60 Do <strong>not</strong> use programs such as autoconf/automake for configuration and
61 creating unreadable/broken makefiles. Instead, use a clean makefile which automatically
62 enables/disables features for specific platforms. Also, document the dependencies
63 properly, so that package maintainers have an easy job packaging i3.
66 Implement an IPC interface for other programs. Provide subscription to
67 certain events and accept commands.
69 This approach should be more lightweight than wmii’s usage of the 9P filesystem.
70 Furthermore, core functionality does not depend on a separate program, so that i3
71 runs faster, especially when your system is under load.
77 The usual elitism amongst minimal window managers: Don’t be bloated, don’t be fancy
78 (simple borders are the most decoration we want to have), don’t add support for Xft
81 However, we do not enforce unnecessary limits such as a maximum amount of source lines
82 of code. If it needs to be a bit bigger, it will be.