Brief (text editor)
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1980s |
| Founder | David Nanian, Michael Strickman |
| Headquarters | Providence, Rhode Island (originally), later Boston, Massachusetts , United States |
| Products | Text editor software |
| Owner | Borland (after 1991) |
Brief (also known as BRIEF or B.R.I.E.F., an acronym for Basic Reconfigurable Interactive Editing Facility) was a widely used text editor designed for programmers during the 1980s and early 1990s. Originally launched for MS-DOS, it later expanded compatibility to include IBM OS/2 and Windows platforms. Its design and capabilities have been preserved and extended by successors such as the SourceForge GRIEF editor.
History
UnderWare Inc, established in Providence, Rhode Island by David Nanian and Michael Strickman, developed Brief, with publication handled by Solution Systems. In 1985, UnderWare moved its operations to Boston, Massachusetts. Solution Systems introduced version 2.1 in 1988.
By 1990, UnderWare transferred ownership of Brief to Solution Systems, which then issued version 3.1 before selling the product to Borland the following year.
Solution Systems positioned Brief at a price of $195, promoting it as a "Program Editing Breakthrough! / Get 20% More Done." That year, Eric Perkins joined as technical architect to oversee porting the OS/2 edition to Windows. Within six months, Perkins collaborated with Blake Nelson, Jeff Simpson, Nanian, and Strickman to develop a Windows release built on an MVC architecture. This iteration was presented at Spring COMDEX 1991, subsequently prompting Borland to acquire Brief along with related software tools.
After the acquisition, Solution Systems ceased its business activities. Borland discontinued Brief sales shortly thereafter.
Features
Key features of the original software included:
Brief for Windows features
- Retained all functionalities from DOS and OS/2 versions
- Recognized as the first programmer's editor leveraging the Windows WYSIWYG interface
- Syntax highlighting through color coding of programming language elements
- Support for multitasking within the Windows environment
- Utilization of Windows memory resources for file and macro caching
- Capability to initiate compilation processes in a DOS window without exiting the editor
Popularity
The design and operational approach of Brief garnered a loyal user base that persists through projects such as SourceForge's GRIEF.
Clones
Several extensions for Vim and Emacs emulate Brief’s functionality. Prominent clones inspired by Brief include:
Emulators
The distinctive Brief keyboard layout achieved popularity and has been replicated in editors like Lugaru Epsilon. It was also adopted by early DOS software such as dBase. Key programs supporting or mimicking the Brief keyboard layout include: