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Notepad++ vs Sublime Text vs Visual Studio Code: What are the differences?
Comparison of Notepad++, Sublime Text, and Visual Studio Code
Introduction
When it comes to code editors, there are numerous options available in the market. Three popular choices are Notepad++, Sublime Text, and Visual Studio Code. In this comparison, we will highlight the key differences between these three code editors.
Platform Compatibility: Notepad++ is limited to Windows only, while Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code are cross-platform compatible, supporting Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Ease of Use and Interface: Notepad++ has a simple and intuitive interface, but Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code offer a more modern and customizable UI, with advanced features such as split views, tabbed interface, and side-by-side editing.
Code Editing Features: Notepad++ provides basic code editing functionalities such as syntax highlighting and code folding. Sublime Text comes with more advanced features like multiple cursor support, powerful text search, and a rich plugin ecosystem. Visual Studio Code offers all the features of Sublime Text and additionally provides built-in debugging, IntelliSense, and Git integration, making it more suitable for complex coding tasks.
Plugin and Extension Support: Notepad++ has a decent collection of plugins, but Sublime Text and Visual Studio Code have a much wider range of extensions available in their respective marketplaces. This makes them more flexible and adaptable to specific coding requirements.
Performance and Speed: Notepad++ is known for its lightweight nature and quick startup time, making it ideal for quick edits. Sublime Text also has excellent performance, but Visual Studio Code might feel a bit heavier due to its extensive features and additional functionalities.
Community and Support: While all three code editors have active communities, Sublime Text has been around for a longer time, and its community is well-established. Visual Studio Code, being an open-source project developed by Microsoft, enjoys strong community support and regular updates. Notepad++ also has a dedicated user base, but the community might not be as large or active as the others.
In Summary, Notepad++ offers a simple and lightweight code editing experience, Sublime Text provides a powerful and customizable environment suited for professional developers, and Visual Studio Code combines advanced features with excellent community support, making it a preferred choice for many developers.
Lightweight and versatile. Huge library of extensions that enable you to integrate a host of services to your development environment. VS Code's biggest strength is its library of extensions which enables it to directly compete with every single major IDE for almost all major programming languages.
Visual Studio Code became famous over the past 3+ years I believe. The clean UI, easy to use UX and the plethora of integrations made it a very easy decision for us. Our gripe with Sublime was probably only the UX side. VSCode has not failed us till now, and still is able to support our development env without any significant effort.
Goland being paid, as well as built only for Go seemed like a significant limitation to not consider it.
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
I decided to choose VSCode over Sublime text for my Systems Programming class in C. What I love about VSCode is its awesome ability to add extensions. Intellisense is a beautiful debugger, and Remote SSH allows me to login and make real-time changes in VSCode to files on my university server. This is an awesome alternative to going back and forth on pushing/pulling code and logging into servers in the terminal. Great choice for anyone interested in C programming!
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
Pros of Sublime Text
- Lightweight720
- Plugins652
- Super fast641
- Great code editor468
- Cross platform442
- Nice UI280
- Unlimited trial260
- Cmd + d is the best command ever153
- Great community92
- Package control, modules46
- Mac OS X support26
- Easy to get started with23
- Monokai22
- Everything you need without the bloat21
- Built in Python21
- Easy18
- Speed14
- Session & edit resuming12
- Package Control10
- Well Designed9
- Multiple selections8
- ALT + CMD + DOWN is the best command ever7
- Nice7
- Fast, simple and lightweight7
- It's easy to use, beautiful, simple, and plugins rule5
- So futuristic and convenient5
- ALT + F3 the best command ever5
- Great5
- Find anything fast within entire project4
- Easy to use4
- Free4
- Simple and clean design4
- Hackable3
- Pretty3
- UI + plugins3
- Sublime Merge (Git Integration)3
- Totally customizable2
- Color schemes and cmd+d2
- Material theme best theme forever2
- Const0
Pros of Visual Studio Code
- Powerful multilanguage IDE340
- Fast308
- Front-end develop out of the box193
- Support TypeScript IntelliSense158
- Very basic but free142
- Git integration126
- Intellisense106
- Faster than Atom78
- Better ui, easy plugins, and nice git integration53
- Great Refactoring Tools45
- Good Plugins44
- Terminal42
- Superb markdown support38
- Open Source36
- Extensions34
- Large & up-to-date extension community26
- Awesome UI26
- Powerful and fast24
- Portable22
- Best editor18
- Best code editor18
- Easy to get started with17
- Lots of extensions15
- Built on Electron15
- Crossplatform15
- Good for begginers15
- Extensions for everything14
- Open, cross-platform, fast, monthly updates14
- All Languages Support14
- Easy to use and learn13
- Extensible12
- "fast, stable & easy to use"12
- Totally customizable11
- Git out of the box11
- Faster edit for slow computer11
- Ui design is great11
- Useful for begginer11
- Great community10
- SSH support10
- Fast Startup10
- It has terminal and there are lots of shortcuts in it9
- Powerful Debugger9
- Great language support9
- Works With Almost EveryThing You Need9
- Python extension is fast8
- Can compile and run .py files8
- Great document formater7
- Features rich7
- He is not Michael6
- Awesome multi cursor support6
- Extension Echosystem6
- She is not Rachel6
- Language server client5
- Easy azure5
- SFTP Workspace5
- VSCode.pro Course makes it easy to learn5
- Very proffesional5
- Supports lots of operating systems4
- Has better support and more extentions for debugging4
- Excellent as git difftool and mergetool4
- Virtualenv integration4
- Has more than enough languages for any developer3
- Better autocompletes than Atom3
- Emmet preinstalled3
- 'batteries included'3
- More tools to integrate with vs3
- VS Code Server: Browser version of VS Code2
- Big extension marketplace2
- Customizable2
- Microsoft2
- Light2
- Fast and ruby is built right in2
- CMake support with autocomplete2
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Cons of Notepad++
- No default plugin manager3
- Can't install more advanced packets2
Cons of Sublime Text
- Steep learning curve8
- Everything6
- Flexibility to move file4
- Number of plugins doing the same thing4
- Doesn't act like a Mac app4
- Not open sourced3
- Don't have flutter integration2
- Forces you to buy license2
Cons of Visual Studio Code
- Slow startup46
- Resource hog at times29
- Poor refactoring20
- Poor UI Designer13
- Weak Ui design tools11
- Poor autocomplete10
- Super Slow8
- Huge cpu usage with few installed extension8
- Microsoft sends telemetry data8
- Poor in PHP7
- It's MicroSoft6
- Poor in Python3
- No Built in Browser Preview3
- No color Intergrator3
- Very basic for java development and buggy at times3
- No built in live Preview3
- Electron3
- Bad Plugin Architecture2
- Powered by Electron2
- Terminal does not identify path vars sometimes1
- Slow C++ Language Server1
