Notepad++

Notepad++
Don Ho · GPL · source
Name	Notepad++
Developer	Don Ho
Released	2003
Programming language	C++
Operating system	Microsoft Windows
Genre	Text editor, source code editor
License	GPL-2.0-only

Notepad++ is a free, open-source text and source code editor for Microsoft Windows. It is known for supporting multiple programming languages, tabbed editing, and extensibility through plugins, and has been widely used by developers, system administrators, and technical writers. The project has attracted attention from users of popular projects and institutions across software engineering, web development, and electronic publishing.

History

Notepad++ was created in 2003 by Don Ho amid a landscape shaped by projects such as Microsoft Windows, GNU Project, Linux kernel, Apache HTTP Server, and Mozilla Firefox. Early development coincided with milestones like the release of Windows XP, the rise of PHP, the expansion of MySQL, and the emergence of Ruby on Rails and WordPress. Over time the project engaged with communities around GitHub, SourceForge, Stack Overflow, Reddit, and developer conferences including PyCon, JavaOne, Google I/O, and WWDC. Contributors and users often cross-referenced technologies such as Visual Studio, Eclipse, NetBeans, Sublime Text, Atom (text editor), and Vim while integrating workflows involving Git, Subversion, Mercurial, Docker, Kubernetes, and cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure.

Features

Notepad++ provides syntax highlighting and folding for many languages spanning ecosystems exemplified by HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, Python (programming language), Java (programming language), C (programming language), C++, C#, PHP, Ruby (programming language), Go (programming language), and Rust (programming language). It implements tabbed document interfaces similar to editors like Sublime Text and integrates search and replace capabilities comparable to utilities such as grep and ripgrep. Editing conveniences align with features popularized by Emacs, Vim, Notepad (Windows), and TextMate, while line-ending and encoding handling are informed by standards from Unicode, UTF-8, and protocols used by SMTP, HTTP, and FTP. Usability aspects reflect design patterns discussed in publications from ACM and IEEE, and the software is often compared in reviews alongside UltraEdit, EditPlus, and BBEdit.

Plugins and Extensibility

The plugin architecture enabled third-party extensions that integrate with ecosystems represented by Visual Studio Code, Eclipse Marketplace, and package systems like NuGet and npm. Popular community plugins provided functionality similar to tools such as Prettier, ESLint, clang-format, ctags, Doxygen, and Sass. Plugin development practices echoed conventions from CMake, Make (software), Autoconf, Cygwin, and build tooling used in projects like LLVM and GCC. Plugin distribution and discussion took place in forums and platforms including GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Stack Exchange, and mailing lists associated with Apache Software Foundation projects.

Development and Licensing

The codebase is written in C++ and uses the Scintilla editing component, sharing a lineage with projects that depend on libraries such as GTK+, Qt, wxWidgets, and toolchains like MinGW and Visual C++. The project is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2, connecting its legal framework to debates seen around the GPLv3 transition and licensing issues observed in cases involving MySQL AB, OpenSSL, LibreOffice, and GIMP. Governance and contribution workflows mirror models familiar from Linux kernel development, Apache Software Foundation projects, and community-run repositories hosted on GitHub and SourceForge.

Reception and Usage

Notepad++ has been cited in tutorials, university courses, and technical articles alongside teaching tools and platforms such as MIT OpenCourseWare, Coursera, edX, Stack Overflow, GitHub, and Medium (website). It has appeared in comparisons with commercial and open editors favored in professional environments like Microsoft Visual Studio, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, and lightweight tools such as Sublime Text and Atom (text editor). Its adoption spans organizations and projects that also use Linux, Windows Server, macOS, Docker, and continuous integration services like Jenkins, Travis CI, and CircleCI.

Security and Vulnerabilities

Security considerations have involved interaction with Windows features and third-party libraries, prompting scrutiny similar to audits conducted for projects like OpenSSL, LibreSSL, Heartbleed, Spectre and Meltdown, and various advisories tracked by CVE. Vulnerability disclosures and patches followed coordination practices akin to those used by CERT Coordination Center, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and vendors such as Microsoft Corporation and Google LLC. Users commonly manage risk through updates, binary verification, and community discussions on platforms like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and security mailing lists maintained by organizations such as MITRE.

Category:Text editors Category:Free software