Notepad++ vs. Sublime Text Editor

For years all I heard about was how great Notepad++ was from bloggers and others alike. So, one day after reading all the positive reviews I decided to give it a try. Afterall I did most of my writing and programming in good ‘ol Microsoft notepad. Anything would have been a step up at that point.

They do have a few different versions that you can download. Being a big fan of portable programs I decided to give Notepad++ portable a try.

For a few weeks it worked well enough. It was a little choppy at times when I would scroll down the page, but for the most part it did what I needed to do. All I needed was a basic, simple, text editor. Since it highlighted various programming language code even better.

That was until one unusual day. I was working on a rather large .php file. I wanted to reuse a small snippet of code so I did the traditional copy and paste. The second I clicked paste Notepad++ decides to crash on me. Oh … oh! I thought to myself, that’s not good.

So, I wait a few seconds and restart Notepad++ back up. Once it starts it has this very confusing question along with a yes/no or cancel/ok. It wasn’t clear what the best selection should be so anyway I clicked one and it opens my .php file, but it’s blank. Completely and totally wiped out. Nothing at all there.

Of course I tried restarting and still blank empty file. I checked the system cache folder for any even partial file I could get back, but nothing happening there either.

I know. Keep backups right? Luckily I do, but I can’t back up every couple of minutes or seconds. I would never get anything done at that rate.

I ended up losing about 24 hours worth of programming, which kind of sucked. But, it could have been worse. I could have lost it all. It was a pretty large file at that point so losing everything would have been a major blow. 24 hours was bad enough.

This was the absolute last time I used Notepad++, and I would never … ever recommend it to anyone know matter what.

So, I started looking for a replacement when I stumbled upon Sublime Text Editor, which comes in 32 bit or 64 bit. Also, an installer or portable version. So, I went with the 32 bit portable. Afterall it’s just a text editor why on earth would I need a 64 bit version for anyway? Plus my good ‘ol laptop is only 32 bit, which would allow me to transfer between it and my 64 bit desktop computer if I needed to.

Sublime has been great. I have been using it for quite a while without a single crash, hiccup, problem, or issue. It just runs perfectly smooth on both of my computers.

I do use a slightly older version (Build 3126) because my laptop is so old it can’t handle anything that takes even a slight amount of extra CPU power or RAM.

It is supposed to be a trial, but it still works after using it for a considerable amount of time. Every once in a while when saving my file(s) it asks me to upgrade or get a license or something. I just choose cancel and it continues to work just fine.

I think the paid licensed version is around $70, which seems a little steep to me considering it’s just a text editor. Granted it does a lot more than I need to do. So, maybe it would be worth it for some of you that do more complex programming and like the extra features.

I know it will do more than I have ever needed it for. If the paid licensed version was more like $20-$25 I would consider purchasing a license just to support the developer. However, at $70 a pop count me out.

I can definitely live with an occasional nag screen for that price.

So, if you are looking for a good text editor/programming editor be sure to check out Sublime in your spare time. It’s definitely worth it.