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Emacs vs Notepad++: What are the differences?
Introduction:
In this article, we will compare Emacs and Notepad++ and highlight the key differences between these two popular text editors.
- Operating System Compatibility:
Emacs: It is compatible with various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. This makes it a versatile option for users with different system preferences.
Notepad++: Primarily developed for Windows, Notepad++ is mainly compatible with Windows operating systems. However, it can also be used through emulation on Linux and macOS.
- Customizability and Extensibility:
Emacs: Known for its high customization capabilities, Emacs allows users to personalize its features extensively using Emacs Lisp, a built-in programming language. This includes creating custom keybindings, adding or modifying functions, and even implementing major modes for specific programming languages.
Notepad++: While Notepad++ does support some level of customization, it is not as robust as Emacs. Users can customize syntax highlighting, macros, and plugins to enhance functionality, but the extent of customization is limited compared to Emacs.
- Built-in Features and Functions:
Emacs: Emacs provides a wide range of built-in features such as email client, web browser, and newsreader. It also offers a rich set of functionalities for developers, including code navigation, project management, version control integration, and even building complete development environments.
Notepad++: Notepad++ offers a variety of features tailored towards programming and text editing, including syntax highlighting, code folding, search and replace functionality, and support for multiple documents. However, it does not provide the extensive range of additional built-in features found in Emacs.
- Learning Curve and Complexity:
Emacs: Due to its high customization capabilities and extensive feature set, Emacs has a steeper learning curve compared to Notepad++. Users need to invest time in understanding its keybindings, commands, and configuration options to fully utilize its potential.
Notepad++: With a simpler and more intuitive user interface, Notepad++ is generally considered easier to learn and use compared to Emacs. It provides a straightforward environment for basic text editing and programming tasks without the need for extensive customization.
- Text Editing Modes:
Emacs: One of the notable features of Emacs is its ability to seamlessly switch between different text editing modes. It provides specific modes for various programming languages, enabling syntax highlighting, auto-indentation, code completion, and other language-specific functionalities.
Notepad++: Similar to Emacs, Notepad++ supports syntax highlighting for various programming languages. However, it does not offer the same level of extensive language-specific modes and functionalities as Emacs.
- Community and Support:
Emacs: Being one of the oldest and most popular text editors, Emacs has a highly active and dedicated community. There is widespread documentation available and a vast ecosystem of Emacs packages and extensions developed by the community.
Notepad++: Notepad++ also has a significant user base and active community support. However, it may not be as extensive or diverse as the Emacs community. Users can find a good amount of community-developed plugins, but the overall support and ecosystem might not be as extensive as Emacs.
In Summary, Emacs offers cross-platform compatibility, extensive customization options, a wide range of built-in features, a steeper learning curve, advanced programming language-specific modes, and a large and active community. Notepad++, on the other hand, is primarily compatible with Windows, has limited customization capabilities, provides a simpler user interface, has basic text editing modes, and a comparatively smaller community support.
Since communication with Github is not necessary, the Atom is less convenient in working with text and code. Sublim's support and understanding of projects is best for us. Notepad for us is a completely outdated solution with an unacceptable interface. We use a good theme for Sublim ayu-dark
Pros of Emacs
- Vast array of extensions65
- Have all you can imagine44
- Everything i need in one place40
- Portability39
- Customer config32
- Your config works on any platform16
- Low memory consumption13
- Perfect for monsters11
- All life inside one program10
- Extendable, portable, fast - all at your fingertips8
- Enables extremely rapid keyboard-only navigation6
- Widely-used keybindings (e.g. by bash)5
- Extensible in Lisp5
- Runs everywhere important5
- FOSS Software4
- Powerful multilanguage IDE4
- Git integration4
- May be old but always reliable4
- Asynchronous3
- Powerful UI3
- Huge ecosystem1
Pros of Notepad++
- Syntax for all languages that i use103
- Tabbed ui59
- Great code editor56
- Fast and lightweight53
- Plugins38
- Nice GUI28
- Regex & Special Character Search & Replace26
- Fast startup16
- Application is free, and plugins are too9
- Themes9
- Free6
- Very Lightweight4
- 100% Free3
- Column selection2
- Awesome autocomplete1
- Easy edit on FTP servers (NppFTP)1
- Cos it's seck1
- Nice gui. are you kidding me?1
- Open Sourced1
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Cons of Emacs
- So good and extensible, that one can get sidetracked4
- Hard to learn for beginners4
- Not default preinstalled in GNU/linux1
Cons of Notepad++
- No default plugin manager3
- Can't install more advanced packets2