Notepad2 by Zufu Liu

One of the biggest advantages that the world of coding provides enthusiasts with is the very ability to pick from a sea of editors and Integrated Development Environment an item that suits their particular needs. A noteworthy example is Zufu Liu’s Notepad2, a lightweight alternative to Windows’ default offering with syntax highlighting, code folding and auto-completion meant to speed up your workflow regardless of the programming language you employ.

Thanks to the outstanding concept of open-sourcing software, any developer can not only share their applications in a fully transparent way for others to verify their code and suggest changes that would improve the user experience, but they also open up the possibility of allowing the community to create custom versions with enhanced functions that suit a wider range of users without sacrificing the format of the first iteration, which is how Zufu Liu’s Notepad2 came into being, as a fork of a popular utility that expands its feature set.

Where the app stands out compared to simpler alternatives is in its support for the vital syntax highlighting available for an impressive number of programming languages, thus giving users the necessary visual cues that help them discern between different statements and provide a more organized outlook on the code’s structure. In addition to the option of collapsing larger chunks of code to more easily navigate a more complex hierarchy of statements, the program can also auto-complete keywords relevant to the chosen scheme to help users save time when referencing various functions.

For more advanced and lengthy projects, the app lets you bookmark certain lines in case you wish to find them more easily in order to review or remove them later. What is more, those who find themselves using the utility more often than Microsoft’s Notepad can fully replace it within the right-click context menu to avoid manually searching for it. Finally, while the coding canvas has an optional dark mode for a more palatable nighttime usage experience, the app’s command ribbon, toolbar and status bar remain a stark white, which tends to break the immersion.

If you are in the market for an incredibly lightweight and portable Microsoft Notepad alternative to implement in your USB flash-drive powered mobile workstation, then Zufu Liu’s Notepad2 may be the right tool for the job, given its impressive feature set meant to save you time and energy while working on your next application.