Notepad++

Notepad++
Developer(s) Don Ho
Initial release November 24, 2003 (2003-11-24)
Stable release 6.9.1[1] (28 March 2016 (2016-03-28)) [±]
Written in C++
Operating system Microsoft Windows
Size 4.01 MB
Available in over 50 languages via Scintilla, plus additional user-defined languages languages[2]
Type Source code editor
License GNU General Public License
Website notepad-plus-plus.org

Notepad++ is a text editor and source code editor for use with Microsoft Windows. Unlike Notepad, the built-in Windows text editor, it supports tabbed editing, which allows working with multiple open files in a single window. The project's name comes from the C increment operator.

Notepad++ is distributed as free software. At first the project was hosted on SourceForge.net, from where it has been downloaded over 28 million times,[3][4] and twice won the SourceForge Community Choice Award for Best Developer Tool.[5] The project has been hosted on TuxFamily since June 2010. Notepad++ uses the Scintilla editor component.

History

Notepad++ was developed by Don Ho in September 2003.[6] The developer used JEXT (a Java-based text editor) at his company, but dissatisfied with its poor performance, he began to develop a text editor written in C++ with Scintilla.[6] He developed it in his spare time since the idea was rejected by his company.[6] Notepad++ was built as a Microsoft Windows application, and the author did consider rebuilding it with wxWidget so it could run on Mac OS X and Unix platforms.[6]

Notepad++ was first released on SourceForge on 25 November 2003, as a Windows-only application. Notepad++ is based on the Scintilla editor component, is written in C++ with only Win32 API calls using only the STL to increase performance and reduce program size.[7][8]

In January 2010, the US government forced open source project hosts to comply with U.S. law and deny access from five countries (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria). As a response to what the developer felt was a violation of the free and open-source software (FOSS) philosophy, in June 2010, Notepad++ moved out of US territorial jurisdiction by releasing a version on TuxFamily, in France.[9][10]

In 2011, Lifehacker featured Notepad++ as the "The Best Programming Text Editor for Windows", stating that "if you prefer a simple, lightweight, and extensible programming plain-text editor, our first choice is the free, open-source Notepad++".[11] Lifehacker also criticized its user interface, stating that "It is, in fact, fairly ugly. Luckily you can do a lot to customize its looks, and what it lacks in polish, it makes up for in functionality".[11]

In 2014, Lifehacker readers voted Notepad++ as the "Most Popular Text Editor", with 40% of the 16,294 respondents specifying it as their most loved editor.[12] The Lifehacker team further summarized the program as being "fast, flexible, feature-packed, and completely free".[12]

In 2015, Stack Overflow conducted a worldwide Developer Survey, and Notepad++ was voted as the most used Text editor worldwide with 34.7% of the 26,086 respondents claiming to use it daily.[13] Stack Overflow also noted that "The more things change, the more likely it is those things are written in JavaScript with NotePad++ on a Windows machine".[13] The 2016 survey had NotePad++ at 35.6%.[14]

Features

Notepad++ supports several programming languages and natural languages.

General features include:[7]

Programming

Notepad++ is one of the most popular source code editors in the world, and supports syntax highlighting and code folding for over 50 programming, scripting, and markup languages.[2][16] Its programming-related features include:[13][7]

The following languages are natively supported by Notepad++:

Plugins

Notepad++ has support for macros and plugins,[17] and has been marked for its robust plugin architecture which enabled various new features to be integrated into the program.[18] Currently, over 140 compatible plugins are developed for Notepad++, 10 of which are included by default in the program.[19] The first plugin to be included in the program was "TextFX", which includes features such as W3C validation for HTML and CSS, text sorting, character case alteration and quote handling.[20]

Internationalization

Notepad++ supports switching into local language after providing a single XML file containing all text that should be translated. As of 2013, the user community has contributed translations into many languages, as well as into some local dialects.

Easter eggs

If F1 is pressed or the About dialog is opened while the currently selected text contains a name, a new document is created and a quote from that person is entered using simulated typing.[21] Among the names that trigger this easter egg are Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, Brian Kernighan, and Darth Vader. Selecting the text 'random' selects a random quote.[22][23]

Controversy

In March 2008, the "Boycott Beijing 2008" banner was placed on Notepad++'s SourceForge.net homepage.[24] A few months later, most users in China were unable to reach the SourceForge.net website for about a month (June 26, 2008 – July 24, 2008). This led to the widespread belief that China had banned SourceForge.net in retaliation for the Boycott banner.[25][26][27]

In January 2015, the Notepad++ website was hacked by Islamist hackers critical of an easter egg endorsing Je suis Charlie. [28]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Notepad++ 6.9.1 released". Notepad++. 2016-03-28. Retrieved 2016-04-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "User Defined Language Files". notepad-plus-plus.org.
  3. ↑ "SourceForge.net: Project Statistics for Notepad++". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
  4. ↑ "Top Downloads - For all time, updated daily". SourceForge. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
  5. ↑ "SourceForge's 4th Annual Community Choice Awards". SourceForge. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Orin, Andy (2015-06-18). "Behind The App: The Story Of Notepad++". Lifehacker Australia.
  7. 1 2 3 "Notepad++ Features". notepad-plus-plus.org.
  8. ↑ Gael, Arianna (2015-06-24). "Notepad++ Is Changing Code And Changing The World". Filehippo.
  9. ↑ "Notepad++ hosted on new website". Notepad++. 2010-06-06.
  10. ↑ "Notepad++ 5.7 released on French servers". Notepad++. 2010-07-05.
  11. 1 2 Pash, Adam (2011-07-06). "The Best Programming Text Editor for Windows". Lifehacker.
  12. 1 2 Henry, Alan (2014-04-24). "Most Popular Text Editor: Notepad++". Lifehacker.
  13. 1 2 3 2015 Developer Survey, Stack Overflow
  14. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160318113033/http://stackoverflow.com/research/developer-survey-2016#technology-development-environments
  15. ↑ Fox, Geoff (July 7, 2008). "Notepad++ Does It Again Again". AppScout (Ziff Davis Media). Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  16. ↑ DeCarlo, Matthew (2009-05-26). "Download of the Week: Notepad++". TechSpot. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  17. ↑ Smith, Tim (September 21, 2009). "Notepad++ 5.5". Computeractive. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  18. ↑ Mombrea, Matthew (2013-11-15). "Tools we love: Notepad++". ITWorld Magazine.
  19. ↑ "Notepad++". sourceforge.net.
  20. ↑ "TextFX's_Future". SourceForge.
  21. ↑ Code inspection:NppCommands.cpp:2111..2140 - May 1, 2014 version
  22. ↑ Code inspection: Notepad_plus.cpp:5244..5442
  23. ↑ Source Code on Github, Notepad_plus.cpp:5499...5705 - Jun 24, 2015 version (Complete list of triggers)
  24. ↑ Notepad++ homepage at the Wayback Machine (archived March 26, 2008)
  25. ↑ SourceForge Blocked In China. Moonlight Blog. June 26, 2008.
  26. ↑ SourceForge Unblocked in China. Moonlight Blog. July 24, 2008.
  27. ↑ "Sourceforge.net was blocked in China". GameDev.net.
  28. ↑ Kovacs, Eduard (15 January 2015). "Notepad++ Site Hacked in Response to “Je suis Charlie” Edition". SecurityWeek.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Notepad++.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, April 20, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.