The term Structure Editor (structured environment, structure-oriented environment) is widely used and has been defined, and redefined, many times since the first recognised structure editor, Emily [51]. This paper follows the trends in this field over the last decade in the following areas: environment parameters, environment architectures, tools and the uses of environments, textual manipulation, internal (structure) representation, conceptual programming with its knowledge-based tools, and environment evaluation. The paper contains an historical perspective of technological events shaping this field and concludes with a unifying summary.