.. when you can have notepad++!
Notepad++ is basically a text editor (like notepad) with a ton of extra really useful features.
Here’s a list of my five favourite notepad++ features:
- Tabs – I can work on multiple documents at the same time. I can save them all at the same time, and if I close the program it will remember what files I was working on and have them ready for me when I open it again.
- Syntax Highlighting – if you give the file the right extension you get nice syntax and keyword highlighting making it easier to structure code and spot errors.
- You can launch your code with an .exe – for example, under this menu I get options to launch the webpage I’m working on in internet explorer, firefox or chrome – whatever notepad++ knows is installed on your machine.
- Plug ins – there is an active community of programmers writing code to plug in to notepad++ delivering the useful features they want to see – for example, I have an SVN plugin that is built on top of Tortoise SVN so I can manage version control of my files.
- Best of all, it’s free!
Notepad++ isn’t the only alternative though. There are lots of others! What text editors do you use? Why do you use them? If you do use notepad++ too what are your favourite features?