Every software needs an editor to write code on. Every developer, irrespective of their experience, prefers a code editor where they write the code. Some editors support only one or two languages. Some Code Editors support multiple languages and platforms as well. Today, we will list some of the best code editors I have personally tried and liked. Even if you are eager to try new software code editors, this list is for you. Make sure this software is far more helpful than saving it as a TXT file. You can build things with this. If you are interested, let me know in the comments section below. I will try my best to introduce programming.
Best Code Editors for Windows 11/10
So, without further ado, let us start with the list of free coding software for Windows OS.
- Microsoft Visual Studio
- Visual Studio Code
- Sublime Text
- Notepad++
- Atom
- SnipAway.
Make sure to try each of them, and then choose one.
1] Microsoft Visual Studio
Well, this is the heavy version of Visual Studio. It can be used for compiling simple programs of C++ to building super heavy cloud-based applications for Azure. It can also be used to develop UWP apps for Windows PC, Windows 10 Mobile, HoloLens, Mixed Reality, and every other Microsoft platform. This can also be used to develop UWP, Android, and iOS apps using Xamarin.
Support for extensions and its availability on MacOS machines make it even more powerful. Although you need a Mac to emulate an iOS app developed in Xamarin with Xamarin Live Player, you can also emulate it wirelessly on your iOS device, such as your iPhone or iPad.
It has three editions that are available publically. The first one is the Community, which is free for users but lacks functionality from other counterparts. The second one is the Professional edition. This one has more features than the community version but less than the third one. The Professional version is not free and has a fee. The third edition is the Enterprise edition. It is the most fully loaded edition of Visual Studio with powerful services like Visual Studio Team Foundation services and more. You can learn more about it here on the official page.
2] Visual Studio Code
This is a lightweight IDE from the same team at Microsoft that makes the Visual Studio IDE. But this is different. It supports many different languages. You can code for PHP, Javascript, Typescript, C, C Plus Plus, C Sharp, and many more. Features like IntelliSense make it far more helpful for developers and help them fix typing mistakes.
The team at Microsoft says this about the product:
VS Code is a new type of tool that combines the simplicity of a code editor with what developers need for their core edit-build-debug cycle. Code provides comprehensive editing and debugging support, an extensibility model, and lightweight integration with existing tools.
VS Code is updated monthly with new features and bug fixes. You can download it for Windows, macOS, and Linux on VS Code’s website. To get the latest releases every day, you can install the Insiders version of VS Code. This builds from the master branch and is updated at least daily.
This software is completely free to use for everyone. It is compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS. It can be found here on Microsoft’s official website.
3] Sublime Text
Sublime Text is a fast and feature-packed code editor. It is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux operating systems. It uses native APIs on each platform and gives you the best possible experience. No matter when and where you are using it, Sublime Text gets your work done.
It is available for a fee of $70 for the software. The trial version comes with some limitations, but it gets your work done anyway, and the difference doesn’t count it too much. You can learn more about it here on its official page.
4] Notepad++
Notepad++ is an incremental version of Notepad. But it is quite different than it. It has a different UI and UX feels than Notepad. It supports more programming languages, obviously. The low usage of CPUs and other hardware resources makes them portable and powerful. As per the data on its official website, it says this about the software:
Based on the powerful editing component Scintilla, Notepad++ is written in C++ and uses pure Win32 API and STL, which ensures a higher execution speed and smaller program size. By optimizing as many routines as possible without losing user friendliness, Notepad++ is trying to reduce the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. When using less CPU power, the PC can throttle down and reduce power consumption, resulting in a greener environment.
5] Atom
Atom is an open-source code editor. It is compatible with Windows 10, macOS, and Linux as well. Languages like C, C Plus Plus, C Sharp, CSS, PHP, Python, etc.
On its official website, the team at Atom says this:
Atom is a text editor that’s modern, approachable, yet hackable to the core—a tool you can customize to do anything but also use productively without ever touching a config file.
You can learn more about it here on its official website.
6] SnipAway
If you are looking for a simple free code editor for Windows 10/8/7, you should give SnipAway a try. Whether you are into web development or software development, you can use this freeware. It is feature-rich, and it comes with a dark theme.
Verdict
All these code editors or IDEs are as good as the other ones. Please let us know in the comments section so that we can help you with programming.
Read next: Free C++ IDE for Windows 11.