Ctags generates an index (or "tag") file for C, C++, Eiffel, Fortran, and Java language objects found in source files. This tag file allows these items to be quickly and easily located by a text editor or other utility. A "tag" signifies a language object for which an index entry is available (or, alternatively, the index entry created for that object). Tag index files are supported by numerous editors, which allow the user to locate the object associated with a name appearing in a source file and jump to the file and line which defines the name. The editors currently know to support tag files are Vi, Vim, Vile, Lemmy, emacs, CRiSP, FTE, NEdit, TSE, X2, and Zeus.

About Exuberant Ctags5.8
Last updated on
sudo apt install exuberant-ctagsSupported platforms
Latest version
- https://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ctags/ctags-5.8.tar.gz
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Latest version
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10.01kAuthor
Darren HiebertProject links
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Comments
6 commentsMaximum votes for usefullness
A programmer should use 'ctags' as often as 'make' or his 'vi'.
Exuberant ctags
If you use vim as your editor for various programming languages, you simply won't want to be without exuberant ctags. The ctags on standard Unix systems is OK and certainly better than nothing, but exuberant ctags is an excellent tool that will save you lots of time. Two major features are 1) the ability to handle a number of different languages like awk, sh, perl, python, C/C++ and Java; 2) the ability to capture definitions of macros and structures. The whole point of these tools is to let you navigate code quickly and it's hard to imagine a better tool than exuberant ctags to use with vim. If you like using vi, it'd be a shame if you didn't get a copy of vim, a much-improved editor over vi.
Exuberant ctags rated 4
This is a a very good package; I rated it 4/5 since it is very cool and useful; but somewhat incompatible with older etags, so I had to change some Makefile that use it, and it doesn't handle lex programs.
Very powerful tool
I have used exuberant Ctags on several medium to large projects. Its ability to recurse through a directory automatically and build the TAGS table is much more convenient than the traditional tags that is shipped with the FSF distribution. Between Ctags, id-utils and the Emacs editor, I can browse through code far more conveniently than most commercial browsers
I'm the envy of all my co-workers...
...when they see I can easily walk through code without ever touching Visual Studio!
Exuberant Ctags
Great package. By far the best source tag distro I've see/used. Great support by the author. You can't really ask for more.