How to make Live Coding Editor using HTML CSS and JavaScript ?

Last Updated : 09 Nov, 2023

In this article, we will implement a live coding editor using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This project will allow you to write and execute HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code in real-time, making it an excellent tool for learning and testing your code snippets.

Final Output

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Prerequisite

Approach

Begin by defining the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files in your project.
Create the HTML structure to build the user interface, including text areas, buttons, and iframes. Use HTML elements such as <textarea>, <button>, and <iframe>.
Apply CSS styles to the HTML elements for a visually appealing and user-friendly interface. Define fonts, colors, and layouts to enhance the appearance of the editor.
In JavaScript, we created a function to read the HTML CSS JS code, and to convert it into UI, and will display it in Iframe Tag.

Example: This example illustrates the creation of a Live Coding Editor project using HTML CSS & JavaScript.

HTML

<!-- Index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html> 
  
<head> 
    <title>Live Coding Editor</title> 
    <link rel="stylesheet" 
          type="text/css" 
          href="style.css"> 
</head> 
  
<body> 
    <div id="editor"> 
        <div class="code-section"> 
            <label for="htmlCode"> 
                HTML Code: 
            </label> 
            <textarea id="htmlCode" 
                      class="code" 
                      placeholder= 
                        "Enter HTML code here"> 
            </textarea> 
        </div> 
        <div class="code-section"> 
            <label for="cssCode"> 
                CSS Code: 
            </label> 
            <textarea id="cssCode" 
                      class="code" 
                      placeholder= 
                        "Enter CSS code here"> 
            </textarea> 
        </div> 
        <div class="code-section"> 
            <label for="jsCode"> 
                JavaScript Code: 
            </label> 
            <textarea id="jsCode" 
                      class="code" 
                      placeholder= 
                        "Enter JavaScript code here"> 
            </textarea> 
        </div> 
        <div class="code-section"> 
            <label for="output"> 
                Output: 
            </label> 
            <div id="output" 
                 class="code"> 
            </div> 
        </div> 
        <div id="menu"> 
            <button id="runButton"> 
                Run Code 
            </button> 
            <button id="clearButton"> 
                Clear Code 
            </button> 
            <a id="downloadButton" 
               download="code.zip"> 
                Download Code 
            </a> 
        </div> 
    </div> 
    <iframe id="preview"></iframe> 
    <script src="script.js"></script> 
    <script src= 
"https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jszip/3.5.0/jszip.min.js"> 
    </script> 
    <script src= 
"https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/FileSaver.js/1.3.8/FileSaver.min.js"> 
    </script> 
</body> 
  
</html>

CSS

/* Style.css */
body { 
    font-family: Arial, sans-serif; 
    margin: 0; 
    padding: 0; 
    background-color: #f4f4f4; 
} 
  
#editor { 
    display: flex; 
    flex-direction: column; 
    height: 100vh; 
    padding: 10px; 
} 
  
label { 
    font-weight: bold; 
    color: #007acc; 
} 
  
.code-section { 
    margin-bottom: 20px; 
} 
  
#htmlCode, 
#cssCode { 
    background-color: #fff; 
} 
  
.code { 
    width: 100%; 
    height: 200px; 
    padding: 10px; 
    border: none; 
    resize: none; 
    font-family: "Courier New", 
        monospace; 
    border: 1px solid #ccc; 
    border-radius: 5px; 
} 
  
button { 
    padding: 5px 10px; 
    background-color: #007acc; 
    color: #fff; 
    border: none; 
    cursor: pointer; 
    margin-right: 10px; 
} 
  
#downloadButton { 
    text-decoration: none; 
    background-color: #007acc; 
    color: #fff; 
    padding: 5px 10px; 
    margin-right: 10px; 
} 
  
iframe { 
    width: 100%; 
    height: calc(100% - 320px); 
    border: none; 
} 
  
#htmlCode::placeholder, 
#cssCode::placeholder, 
#jsCode::placeholder { 
    color: hsl(113, 100%, 49%); 
} 
  
/* Styles for responsive UI */
@media (max-width: 768px) { 
    .code-section { 
        width: 100%; 
        margin: 10px 0; 
    } 
    .code { 
        width: 100%; 
    } 
} 
/* Style for scrollable output box */
#output { 
    background-color: #f0f0f0; 
    border: 1px solid #ccc; 
    padding: 10px; 
    overflow-y: auto;  
    max-height: 300px;  
}

Javascript

// Script.js 
const htmlCode =  
    document.getElementById('htmlCode'); 
const cssCode =  
    document.getElementById('cssCode'); 
const jsCode =  
    document.getElementById('jsCode'); 
const output =  
    document.getElementById('output') 
const previewFrame =  
    document.getElementById('preview'); 
const runButton =  
    document.getElementById('runButton'); 
const clearButton =  
    document.getElementById('clearButton'); 
const downloadButton =  
    document.getElementById('downloadButton'); 
  
const updatePreview = () => { 
    const html = htmlCode.value; 
    const css =  
`<style>${cssCode.value}</style>`; 
    const js =  
`<script>${jsCode.value}</script>`; 
  
    const code = `${html}\n${css}\n${js}`; 
    output.innerHTML = code;} 
  
const clearCode=() => { 
    htmlCode.value = ''; 
    cssCode.value = ''; 
    jsCode.value = ''; 
    updatePreview()} 
  
const downloadCode = () => { 
    const zip = new JSZip(); 
    zip.file("index.html", htmlCode.value); 
    zip.file("styles.css", cssCode.value); 
    zip.file("script.js", jsCode.value); 
  
    zip.generateAsync({ type: "blob" }). 
        then(function (content) { 
        saveAs(content, "code.zip"); 
    })} 
  
// Initial preview update 
updatePreview(); 
downloadButton.addEventListener('click', () => { 
    const zip = new JSZip(); 
    zip.file("index.html", htmlCode.value); 
    zip.file("styles.css", cssCode.value); 
    zip.file("script.js", jsCode.value); 
    zip.generateAsync({ type: "blob" }) 
        .then( (content)=> { 
            saveAs(content, "code.zip"); 
        })}); 
          
runButton.addEventListener('click', updatePreview); 
clearButton.addEventListener('click', clearCode); 
downloadButton.addEventListener('click', downloadCode);