CHAPTER 2 BUILDING C# APPLICATIONS
Building .NET Applications Using Notepad++
Another simple text editor I’d like to quickly point out is the freely downloadable Notepad++ application.
This tool can be obtained from http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net. Unlike the primitive Windows
Notepad application, Notepad++ allows you to author code in a variety of languages and supports
various plug-in utilities. In addition, Notepad++ provides a few other niceties, including the following:
•
Out-of-the-box support for C# keywords (including keyword color coding)
•
Support for syntax folding, which allows you to collapse and expand groups of
code statements within the editor (similar to Visual Studio /C# Express)
•
The ability to zoom in/zoom out text via Ctrl-mouse wheel
•
Configurable autocompletion for a variety of C# keywords and .NET namespaces
Regarding this last point, the Ctrl+space keyboard combination will activate C# autocompletion
support (see Figure 2-4).
Figure 2-4. Autocompletion using Notepad++
Note The options displayed by the autocomplete window can be modified and extended. Simply open up the
C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\plugins\APIs\cs.xml file for editing, and add any additional entries.
I won’t go into too many details of Notepad++ beyond what we have examined here. If you require
more assistance, select the Help content menu option.
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