Increasing productivity with Notepad++

[Raman009]

1. Fingertext plugin to speed up writing of code.
2. Explorer plugin to check files simultaneously.

If you know any plugins on Notepad++ to increase productivity in C++ , please share here.

How I compile
I usually compile programs by opening cmd window with shortcut ctrl+shift+alt+X.Then I type the following command

g++ cppFile.cpp -o cppFile

This command is followed by cppFile.exe which displays the output.
and later I just use the arrow keys to use the commands used in history if needed again for the same program.
If I have to start with a new file . I repeat the process.
If anyone uses notepad++ for c/c++ , do share how you do it in minimum amount of time. I waste too much time.

I know many people will recommend using IDE's such as CodeBlocks . I have CodeBlocks installed. and I have worked on it many times .However I don't feel comfortable working on that as most of the times I am figuring out how to fix something rather than writing code.

Please share your tips to write code faster. Thanks !!

[chrisname]

3. A different editor.

[Raman009]

@chrisname Well , if a different editor is the only choice, which one would you recommend on a windows machine?

[chrisname]

I don't know any for Windows that don't suck. gedit is perfect on Linux but the Windows version sucks (maybe if you compile it from source it's better; the pre-compiled Windows one is old and broken).

jedit is good if you can get used to its interface.

Which I guess makes #4
4. A different OS.

[Raman009]

Which I guess makes #4
4. A different OS.

Which one ? Mac or Linux .

I am thinking of getting a Mac and wiping off Windows XP from my desktop and installing something like Fedora or Ubuntu.
But it will take some time.

Well ,Is there any specific reason for hating notepad++ ? I find it cool , I just want to stop doing redundant tasks and do things faster.

[Stewbond]

I really like notepad++. I have VS2008 at work for my projects, but whenever I need to write or heavily modify a function from scratch I move it to notepad++. It's the small things that count such as:
- Holding ALT and dragging your cursor lets you not only delete a block of code, but you can type on multiple lines at once. VS2010 on my home compy does this, but VS2008 doesn't.
- Double clicking on the TAB region where no tab exists opens a new file.
- Macros for when you are modifying massive files with consistent formatting.

The only things that I would want to add would be a better Intellisense and an "Open Containing Folder" context menu option when right clicking on a file's tab.

People love to rave about gedit (I've tried and hated the windows version) but I'd like to know why... not just "because it's for linux" or something stupid like that. I'd be interested in a real reason or concrete feature. It's like those people that like VI, why would anyone use VI? It's the worst thing I've ever used! The only reason it still exists is so people that have used Unix since 1980 can go "I use VI".

[1yR4jE8b]

I also hate gEdit. Kate is much better than it, and Sublime Text 2 is better than both.

[ascii]

It's like those people that like VI, why would anyone use VI? It's the worst thing I've ever used! The only reason it still exists is so people that have used Unix since 1980 can go "I use VI".

What did you find so awful about Vi? I can assure you there are lots of people who use Vi who were born well after the 1980's. There's a reason it's the default editor on almost every Unix OS.


As for gedit, I've never been a fan. I found it to be a slightly improved Notepad.

I've heard good things about Sublime, however. If I couldn't use Emacs I'd probably migrate over to it.

[Aramil of Elixia]

personally for console c and c++ i just find it easier to use text edit and g++
except for windows cause i dont have cygwin anymore so i have to use code blocks to interface w/ gcc

[TheIdeasMan]

I use KDevelop or QtCreator on Fedora 17, and they have all the features I could possibly want.

I was going to test Ubuntu, but discovered there is no x86_64 version only 32bit.

As far as vi goes, I had to use it for 3 months in a place that I worked. The reason was that the AIX server was on runlevel 5, so no GUI at all.

I would have much preferred to have something better, so that I didn't have to remember all the vi commands. However one has to write with the pen that has been issued.

[Raman009]

I guess , I have to shift to Codeblocks for now. Can anyone tell me which is the best font and font-size for programming ?

[Stewbond]

I dislike VI because to do anything you need to memorize 100 different hotkeys which are not intuitive to me. I've used it for a while before, but when leaving for a month and then comming back, I have to re-do the learning curve and have a cheat-sheet printed off at my desk. It's a waste of time for me when I could just intuitively use pico or nano when I have no GUI.

I keep seeing people say things like:

darkestfright wrote:

I also hate gEdit. Kate is much better than it, and Sublime Text 2 is better than both.

chrisname wrote:

jedit is good

I'd like to know why you think those things. What do those editors actually have that makes them any good?

[Stewbond]

In terms of fonts, Anything uni-space that differentiates easily between l/1, O/0 i/j, B/8. In terms of size, as small as possible while still being able to easily read from your chair.

I use Consolas/10. Consolas happens to be the default font in Visual Studio.

[Raman009]

I have set Consolas/11 as 10 is too small for me..thanks @Stewbond .
Thanks everyone for sharing your opinion.

I would have definitely gone for sublime text 2 if it was free. It's great.

[Catfish2]

People just don't appreciate good old Fixedsys anymore.

[ne555]

The reason was that the AIX server was on runlevel 5, so no GUI at all.

If you are not comfortable with that, then don't edit in the server.
Use scp or git so you work in your machine, with your tools.

I was going to test Ubuntu, but discovered there is no x86_64 version only 32bit.

http://www.ubuntu.com/start-download?distro=desktop&bits=64&release=lts

[hanst99]

I would have definitely gone for sublime text 2 if it was free. It's great.

It costs about as much as an average CS/Programming book. That's certainly not too much of an investment for a text editor (especially since it's per user rather than per machine).

[ascii]

I dislike VI because to do anything you need to memorize 100 different hotkeys which are not intuitive to me. I've used it for a while before, but when leaving for a month and then comming back, I have to re-do the learning curve and have a cheat-sheet printed off at my desk. It's a waste of time for me when I could just intuitively use pico or nano when I have no GUI.

Yet you're fine learning all of the keywords, OO techniques/ideas and complicated casting rules of C++?

You'll probably only end up using 15-20 commands with a high frequency anyhow, which can be learned in about 5 minutes and should only take a couple of days to get used to.

[N36fSL3A]

Well, I'm not going to read the stuff above, as I'm in school. Anyway, excuse me if this is already mentioned this but I got a collection of the GCC compiler and Notepad++ put together, look up "PocketCpp". It's portable, and you can just hit F9 to compile it and ctrl+F9 to run your compiled program. No need to enter silly commands into Notepad++ anymore...

EDIT - If you're looking for an IDE you can download Microsoft Visual C++ Express Edition...

[TheIdeasMan]

@ne555
The link you provided for ubuntu is AMD64 not x86_64. Unless I am confused, AMD is a different chip isn't it? I have an i7 chip in my laptop.

I did become comfortable using vi, the other aspect was potential ridicule from colleagues if I didn't use vi ...... :=D

It doesn't matter any more as that job was a fill in one, am now back to my usual Land Surveying job.

Thanks for your comments, ne555.