Hello!
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the first pre-release of SkEditor 3 was launched exactly a month ago!
So, I want to take a moment to reflect on the past few weeks, clear up some thoughts about the alphas, and talk about the future of SkEditor 3.
Bugs, bugs, bugs
Of course, as expected with alphas, we ran into some bugs, especially when it came to the new features. But honestly, I think it went pretty well! Most of the issues were fixed quickly, and there weren’t any critical bugs that made the app completely unusable. As of right now, SkEditor 3 is in a stable state, which means I can finally shift my focus toward new features and general improvements.
New features
The only major addition so far is the redesigned Documentation page. I really like how it turned out compared to the old one, even if it’s still a work in progress. Funnily enough, it was one of the quickest features to implement - the first prototype was done in a single day, and I expanded and improved it in just a few hours on another. It was mostly a challenge for myself to create something big and nice in a short amount of time, and I’d love to do more of that. However, I want to prioritize stability and minor improvements first.
Analyzer
Of course, the Analyzer is probably the feature you’re most excited about. I still can’t reveal much, but it will definitely be worth the wait!
When will it be released?
I don’t know.
By now, you probably know that I hate promising concrete release dates. Even when I’m confident I’ll finish something on time, I prefer to say it will be released “soon” or “in a few weeks,” just like I did with the first alpha.
Initially, I wanted to target July 7th as the release date, as that would mark exactly a year since the last stable release of SkEditor 2. Sadly, meeting that deadline would mean rushing things, and I don’t want that.
Why isn’t the source code public yet?
SkEditor has been open source from the very beginning, and I plan to keep it that way. To me, open source represents safety, transparency, and freedom.
What it doesn’t bring during heavy, rapid development, however, is peace of mind. I want to experiment with new features, enhancements, and even silly ideas. While the codebase is mostly clean, it can look messy when things are being developed at a fast pace.
Furthermore, being open source means anyone can contribute. While that’s usually great, it’s not ideal right now. I want to lay down the foundational work myself so the project aligns with my vision. Public repositories also create a lot of pressure and false expectations. Someone might spend an hour implementing a feature I’ve been promising for months. And nowadays, even without knowing C#, people can just use AI. It might look spectacular on the surface, as if they did “something I couldn’t do for months”, but under the hood, the code is usually a mess, poorly integrated, and miles away from the project’s standards. I want to avoid that kind of situation entirely, especially during this phase.
There were no new builds for a while, why?
While I did work on some minor tweaks and fixes, I haven’t spent much time on SkEditor 3 since the last build. I’ve been busy with personal matters, got back into gaming a bit, and also spent some time on another private project of mine that had been sitting untouched for six months. Besides, we’ve already had 14 Alpha builds since the start, which averages out to more than one build every two days!
I’ll try to balance things better so I can get back to SkEditor 3 more frequently. I can’t say when the next alpha will drop, but I don’t there’s anything critical that needs to be fixed or added immediately anyway.
Closing remarks
That’s all I wanted to share for now. I hope you’re enjoying the alphas! Remember, whether there are major updates or none at all, we’re getting closer to the release anyway :P