Developer(s) Don Ho Operating system | Written in C++ | |
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Initial release November 24, 2003; 13 years ago (2003-11-24) Stable release 7.3.3 (8 March 2017; 11 days ago (2017-03-08)) [±] Repository github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus | ||
Notepad++ is a text editor and source code editor for use with Microsoft Windows. 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.
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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, and twice won the SourceForge Community Choice Award for Best Developer Tool. The project was hosted on TuxFamily from 2010 to 2015; since 2015 Notepad++ has been hosted on GitHub. Notepad++ uses the Scintilla editor component.
History
Notepad++ was developed by Don Ho in September 2003. 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. He developed it in his spare time since the idea was rejected by his company. Notepad++ was built as a Microsoft Windows application; the author considered, but rejected, using wxWidgets to port it to the Mac OS X and Unix platforms.
Notepad++ was first released on SourceForge on 25 November 2003, as a Windows-only application. It is based on the Scintilla editor component, and is written in C++ with only Win32 API calls using only the STL to increase performance and reduce program size.
In January 2010 the US government obliged US-based open source project hosts to deny access from Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria to comply with U.S. law. 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. Some community services of Notepad++ (Such as the forums and bug tracker) remained on Sourceforge until 2015 when Notepad++ left Sourceforge completely.
In 2011 Lifehacker described 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++". Lifehacker 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".
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. The Lifehacker team summarized the program as being "fast, flexible, feature-packed, and completely free".
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. Stack Overflow noted that "The more things change, the more likely it is those things are written in JavaScript with NotePad++ on a Windows machine". The 2016 survey had NotePad++ at 35.6%.
In 2015, in response to the staff hijacking of projects hosted on Sourceforge, Notepad++ left Sourceforge completely with the forums being moved to NodeBB and the bug tracker to GitHub.
Features
Notepad++ supports several programming languages and natural languages.
General features include:
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. Its programming-related features include:
The following programming languages are natively supported by Notepad++:
Plugins
Notepad++ has support for macros and plugins, and has been marked for its robust plugin architecture which enabled various new features to be integrated into the program. Currently, over 140 compatible plugins are developed for Notepad++, 10 of which are included by default in the program. The first plugin to be included in the program was "TextFX", which includes W3C validation for HTML and CSS, text sorting, character case alteration and quote handling.
Internationalization
Notepad++ supports switching into a local human language after providing a single XML file containing all text that should be translated. The user community has contributed translations into many languages and 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. 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.
Controversy
In March 2008 the "Boycott Beijing 2008" banner was placed on Notepad++'s SourceForge.net homepage. A few months later most users in China were unable to reach the SourceForge.net website from June 26 to July 24, 2008. This led to the widespread belief that China had banned SourceForge.net in retaliation for the Boycott banner.
In January 2015 the Notepad++ website was hacked by Islamist hackers who objected to an easter egg endorsing Je suis Charlie.