The Free Source Code Editor Notepad++

It’s time to change Windows Notepad to Notepad++. When you reach a point that you understand the basics of coding, you may want to change or tweak some of your script files that are uploaded to your site. Yes, there are times when some upgrade you want to make requires you to make slight alterations to your source codes (index, footer, function, etc. files).  The provider of the upgrade will tell you how to perform the changes to the files.

This can be done in Windows Notepad, if it a simple matter of locating 1 small bit of text that needs to be changed. Often, however, there are times when you will be told “locate every line, ‘the coding text‘ and replace with ‘the new coding text‘. The provider of the information usually isn’t going to spend time naming every numbered line of the text file, in order for you to find all the locations. This is where a proper text and source code editor is needed. Windows notepad is definitely not the kind of tool that you would want to use for serious purposes.

A fine (and free) solution is replacing Windows Notepad with  Notepad++.  It’s been my personal favorite text and source code editor, though it is not an IDE ( amore sophisticated program), it meets the requirements of any beginner and intermediate webmaster. Visual Studio, Zend Studio, PHPEd, Komodo, Eclipse etc fall into the category of an IDE, but they aren’t necessary for most people.

What’s so special about Notepad++?
1) It’s Simple. Simple is what you need in the beginning.

2) Syntax highlighting for practically any kind of language that you can think of (C, C++, VB, C#, PHP, Ruby, Smalltalk, CSS, JS, HTML etc)

3) Opens multiple documents in tabs. And you can scroll through your tabs by the order where you last viewed them.

4) Notepad++ has an autocomplete feature built-in to help you remember the correct function to use when developing (though it is unlikely you will need this feature for some time) . All you need to do is type a few characters of a valid function name and press CTRL+SPACE to see a list of suggestions.

5) It’s free. Small download size. And loaded with plugins which you can customize easily. My favorite plugins are:
- FTP explorer: A built in ftp client to connect to your web server.

- Light Explorer: A built in window showing the your directory structure.

- Compare: A tool to display the changes/differences between 2 files .

- Function Lists – Shows me a list of all the function the current source file has. Very handy to help in navigating quickly to a section or segment of your code.

Do youself a favor and replace Windows Notepad with Notepad++. You won’t lose anything in using Notepad++. In fact, you will have everything you did have, only more with Notepad++. To Download, CLICK HERE.