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Comment by AuthorizedCust | Hacker News Reader

I stopped using Notepad++ a while back, switching to VSCode as it gained maturity.

Just curious, other than philosophical, why would a developer keep using Notepad++ today? What are its relative strengths?

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It is fast, lightweight, uses a native Win32 GUI and by the time i have released the mouse button to launch it via right click in a file or the F4 key in Total Commander (which launches it to edit a text file) the UI is already open.

Also it has a neat feature where when you exit and open it again it "remembers" changes you made to files if you don't save them and new files you created and didn't save (basically saves modified/unsaved files to some temp place i guess) which i find useful to take quick notes.

FYI, the "unsaved changes" files live in %APPDATA%/Notepad++/backup on Windows.

Total commander - a windows binary in the same ‘league’ as np++ - can’t live without it!!!

I can’t live with any other file manager…!

Am even considering using it via wine on Linux…!

I actually am using it via Wine on Linux, it works ok though there are some issues like shortcut keys not always working properly (e.g. Alt+F1 or Alt+F2 do not focus the "drive" letter properly, i need to do Alt+Alt+F1/F2) and for some reason trying to connect to an FTP/FTPS site hangs the entire program (i'm using gFTP as an alternative that has a sort of similar two-panel UI while being native, so not a big problem but still). Also for some reason whenever i browse the external HDD the file display happens very slowly.

So i don't use it as much as i did under Windows (and other alternatives i've checked -including Double Commander which is supposedly a TC clone- just aren't there) and for some simple stuff i use mc, but TC-under-Wine still has a lot of useful functionality (e.g. i really like how its Synchronize Directories functionality works) so i have it permanently in Window Maker's dock since i still use it daily.

VS Code does the same

I use both VSCode and Notepad++, for different purposes.

Notepad++ is great when only working on a few files, or just needing to edit something quickly. It's light, doesn't use a ton of memory and can open huge files quickly.

VSCode has a lot more functionality, like advanced code editing (suggesting function names, showing parameters, refactoring, etc.), and is an actual IDE where you can also debug code, even on remote machines or inside containers. The downside is that it uses a lot of memory, and it doesn't react as fast as Notepad++, especially on low-end hardware.

VSCode is heavy and slow. Not so much by IDE standards, but as a text editor, it is awful. It is what keeps me on Sublime Text.

On a decent computer, VSCode is completely usable, but it is slow enough to be felt, especially when compared to a more lightweight editor. On the old, underpowered and bloated corporate laptop I have to use from time to time, VSCode is slow enough to impact productivity. On the same computer, Notepad++ is fine.

I like it because it’s super fast, but the main reason is familiarity - I know how to do everything with it, and I haven’t seen a strong need for me to pick up another tool.

I’m not interested in jumping on the VS Code hype train, and I already use Visual Studio.

Do you believe everyone should use the same editor and no alternatives have any reason to exist anymore?

I used several editors (not Notepad++ since I moved away from windows many years ago), as they all have their own strengths and use cases where they are best at something.

I can't be classified as a developer (though I'm occasionally write some code), but VSCode on my external monitor is unusable because it plainly ignores ClearType hints. All GUI text in it looks like I had a 24h marathon and didn't clean my glasses for a week.

Everything else (including Notepad++, lol) on that monitor looks just fine. It works on integrated display, but thanks, I prefer 38" to 14".

Notepad++ is much faster than VSCode.

For serious work I have Intellij, for quick things N++. VSCode fits nowhere for me. YMMV

Same. I don't program in N++, but use it to open random files outside the project every day.

I don’t use it for development, but it’s free, super fast, as everyone else says. In particular it will let you work with quite large text/data files and is also super simple to use. I recommend it for people who work with «medium data» and don’t know what to use. It’s got regex search, menus, toolbars etc. (But vim is better in the terminal.)

Unlike VSCode and most modern IDEs, Notepad++ has no concept of a workspace. I can use it to open any file anywhere on my filesystem or on a remote server, and Notepad++ won't balk about those files belonging to different projects or try to index every file on the disk.

I usually have a whole bunch of small things going on at the same time, and having them all open in a single Notepad++ window is much easier than juggling a half dozen VSCode windows. (I do use VSCode heavily for a couple of major, ongoing projects with clearly defined workspaces.)

And it keeps unsaved files without having to save them and give them a name. That’s an underrated feature.

It's just rock solid, super responsive and takes no memory.

Sometimes all you need is an editor for editing text. No sidebars, consoles, widgets, tree views or anything. Notepad++ serves that purpose perfectly.

Sure, you can configure VS Code to behave like that. But then you have to undo all that again when you want to actually use it as an IDE. And what for?

I have never used it as IDE but a text editor

On windows this is my go-to text editor (though I sometimes use Sublime Text)

Reliable and fast for years and updates keep coming

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