Notepad++ facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Notepad++

Notepad++ v7 on Windows 10, depicting MediaWiki 1.27.1 source code
Developer(s)	Don Ho
Initial release	24 November 2003; 21 years ago (2003-11-24)
Stable release	8.6.8  / Error: first parameter is missing. ()
Written in	C++
Operating system	Windows
Platform	IA-32, x86-64, AArch64
Available in	90 languages
List of languages Afrikaans, Albanian, Arabic, Aragonese, Aranese, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bosnian, Brazilian portuguese, Breton, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified, Corsican, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Extremaduran, Persian, Finnish, French, Friulian, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kabyle, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Kurdish, Kyrgyz, Latvian, Ligurian, Lithuanian, Luxembourgish, Macedonian, Malay, Marathi, Mongolian, Norwegian, Nynorsk, Occitan, Piglatin, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Samogitian, Sardinian, Serbian, Serbian Cyrillic, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Spanish Argentinian, Swedish, Tagalog, Tajik Cyrillic, Tamil, Tatar, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uyghur, Uzbek, Uzbek Cyrillic, Venetian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Zulu
Type	Source code editor
License	2021: GPL-3.0-or-later 2003: GPL-2.0-or-later

Notepad++ is a special computer program. It's a free and open-source (meaning anyone can use and change it) text and source code editor. It works on computers that use Microsoft Windows.

This program helps you write and edit plain text. It's also great for writing source code, which is the set of instructions that tell a computer program what to do. Notepad++ lets you open and work on many files at once in a single window, using tabs like a web browser. The "++" in its name comes from a term used in the C programming language.

Notepad++ is free for everyone to use. It was first hosted on a website called SourceForge, where it was downloaded millions of times. It even won awards! Later, it moved to other hosting sites like TuxFamily and then GitHub. Notepad++ is built using a special tool called the Scintilla editor component.

History of Notepad++

How Notepad++ Started

Notepad++ was created by a person named Don Ho in September 2003. Don Ho used a different text editor at his job, but he wasn't happy with how slow it was. So, in his free time, he decided to build a better one. He wrote Notepad++ using the C++ programming language and the Scintilla tool. His company didn't want to support his idea, so he worked on it on his own.

Notepad++ was made specifically for Microsoft Windows computers. Don Ho thought about making it work on Mac and Unix computers too, but he decided against it.

Early Releases and Growth

The first version of Notepad++ was released on SourceForge on November 25, 2003. It was designed to be very fast and small. This was because it used simple Win32 API calls and the STL in C++.

Over the years, Notepad++ became very popular. In 2011, a website called Lifehacker called it "The Best Programming Text Editor for Windows." They liked that it was simple, light, and could be expanded with new features. They did say its look wasn't the prettiest, but you could change it!

In 2014, Lifehacker readers voted Notepad++ as the "Most Popular Text Editor." About 40% of people chose it as their favorite. They described it as "fast, flexible, feature-packed, and completely free."

Notepad++ and Online Surveys

In 2015, a big survey of developers around the world was done by Stack Overflow. Notepad++ was voted the most used text editor, with almost 35% of developers saying they used it every day. The survey in 2016 showed its popularity grew even more.

Moving to New Homes Online

In 2010, the US government made a rule that some US-based websites couldn't be accessed from certain countries. The creator of Notepad++ felt this went against the idea of free and open-source software. So, in June 2010, Notepad++ moved its main files to TuxFamily, a website in France. This helped keep the software free and open for everyone.

Later, in 2015, Notepad++ completely left SourceForge. This happened because of some issues with how SourceForge was managing projects. Notepad++ moved its forums and bug tracker (where users report problems) to GitHub.

Cool Features of Notepad++

Notepad++ is a powerful source code editor with many helpful tools.

Making Code Easier to Read

• Syntax Highlighting: This means different parts of the code (like commands, numbers, or text) show up in different colors. This makes it much easier to read and understand your code.
• Code Folding: You can hide parts of your code that you're not working on right now. This helps keep your view clean and focused.
• Autocompletion: When you start typing a word, Notepad++ can suggest the rest of it. This saves time and helps prevent typos.

Notepad++ can highlight code for many different programming languages. As of a recent version, it supports 78 different types of code! Here are just a few examples:

It also has special settings for regular plain text files, including an "MS-DOS Style" that looks like old computer text editors.

Working with Text Files

Notepad++ is great for handling text files from different computer systems.

• It understands different ways computers mark the end of a line (like CR, CR+LF, and LF). It can even change them for you.
• It supports many ways text is encoded (called character encodings). If a text file looks like gibberish, Notepad++ can often fix it by guessing the right encoding.

Here are some other helpful features for editing text:

• Autosave: It can automatically save your work so you don't lose it.
• Find and Replace: You can easily find words or phrases and replace them with others, even using advanced search patterns.
• Search in Files: You can search for text not just in the file you have open, but also in other open files or even in a whole folder on your computer.
• Line Bookmarking: You can mark important lines in your code to quickly jump back to them later.
• Macros: You can record a series of actions and then play them back to do repetitive tasks quickly.
• Split Screen Editing: You can view two parts of the same file, or two different files, side-by-side.
• Text Cleanup: It can sort lines, change text to all uppercase or lowercase, and remove extra spaces.
• Tabbed Interface: As mentioned, you can open many files in different tabs, making it easy to switch between them.

Adding More Power with Plugins

Notepad++ lets you add extra tools called plugins. These are like small programs that add new features. There are over 140 plugins available! Some are even included when you first install Notepad++. For example, the "TextFX" plugin helps check if your HTML and CSS code is correct.

Using Notepad++ in Different Languages

Notepad++ can be used in many different languages. It uses special files that contain all the words and phrases for the program's menus and buttons. This makes it easy for people to translate Notepad++ into new languages.

Notepad++ and Important Messages

The creator of Notepad++ has sometimes used the software's website to share messages about important world events.

Messages About China

• In 2008, a message supporting the "Boycott Beijing 2008" movement was put on the Notepad++ website. After this, some users in China had trouble accessing the website for a while.
• In October 2019, a version of Notepad++ was released called "Free Uyghur." The creator shared his worries about the Uyghur people in China. This led to the website being attacked by hackers, but it recovered.
• In July 2020, a version called "Stand with Hong Kong" was released. This was about the National Security Law in Hong Kong. In response, some Chinese web browsers started blocking the Notepad++ download page.
• In February 2022, versions called "Boycott Beijing 2022" were released, again raising concerns about human rights in China. The creator suggested not watching the Winter Olympics.

Messages About Ukraine

• In late February 2022, a version called "Declare variables, not war" was released. The creator spoke out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• In March 2022, another version, "Make Apps, not war," continued to share views on the conflict in Ukraine.

See also

• Comparison of text editors
• List of text editors