I use TextPad/Notepad++. Textpad because it's hands down the best lightweight Java IDE out there. Notepad++ because it's one of the most versatile lightweight IDEs that supports conceivably any compile-able language with user-made scripts to handle compiling, executing, etc...

I used to use notepad++ myself and it is a very good editor which i currently also use its direct counterpart on linux (leafpad) i have however discovered bluefish to be much more flexible with what i do and is more advanced than notepad++ :)

It's worth noting that there are major differences between a syntax highlighter/editor and a full featured IDE. As of late, I've been using Sublime Text 2 and would strongly recommend it :)

Sublime does however come with a licence fee of $59 for a single user in order to keep using it once the trial is finished...
it is not a free like bluefish which may put some users off even though it is a nice program

This is true. However, it's been in beta (free) for quite some time now as I've been using it for nearly a year.

I've been using vim for years and really enjoy the mouse-less interface. I'm currently using MacVim.

Since your brought it up, what sets bluefish apart from other code editors, just as Notepad++(which I currently use)?

yes it is true that notepad++ scores highest in the comparisons of editors. ( http://text-editor.pikimal.com/vs/bluefish-2/notepad-2 )
however .. i use linux alot and notepad++'s counterpart , Leafpad, is nowhere even in the league of bluefish. to go to that level i would have to use Emacs or Vim .. both are way too complicated for the average user. Bluefish just sits in that nice easy to use area which offers coding assistance (auto complete tags etc) and has sub areas for css , c, etc for addons.

hence why i have gone down the route of looking at bluefish and recommending it. i have notepadd++ on my windows box.. but as is the case with personal preference .. i like to experiment and have found a good liking to bluefish as a fully multi-os editor :)

The only advantage I've seen thus far using bluefish is it's remote directory support....but after checking notepad++ it comes with a plugin to do the same, so no real benefit gained there. :/

I suspect you are basing this purely .. as a windows user, in which case yes .. notepad++ is a superior editor.. but as a cross platform editor .. notepad++ is not good being targetted solely as windows only. VIM , EMACS , BlueFish etc .. are aimed at all O/S's pretty much BUT... Bluefish offers the most Operating System coverage of all the editors whilst keeping it the easiest of the 3 to use (vim / emacs / bluefish)

This is what i am basing it on :)

Emacs 24 runs on these operating systems regardless of the machine type:
GNU GNU/Linux GNU/kFreeBSD FreeBSD NetBSD OpenBSD Solaris Mac OS X AIX MS Windows
MS DOS

VIM runs on..
Unix PC: MS-DOS and MS-Windows Amiga OS/2 Macintosh Others

Bluefish runs on
Linux, FreeBSD, MacOS-X, Windows, OpenBSD and Solaris (not as much as emacs or vim... but it is the easiest to work on for newcomers compared to vim / emacs )

Notepad++ will only run on windows

As a windows ONLY user .. notepad++ is the better yes.. but i am not a "windows" only user and neither are linux or mac users.

You can run Notepad++ through compatibility layers such as Wine without any serious drawbacks. You can't really define one editor as "superior" considering this is all subjective to the user at hand :P @Hawkee I've been looking at Vim for quite a bit now but haven't tried it out. Might finally have to do so.

@sean I've been using vim for years. I do a lot of server work so it makes sense to be familiar with something that's always available on most any installation. Of course it needs to be vi when doing server work, but it's more or less the same.

i havent tried to say that any one is the best.. all i have tried to do on this thread is just draw attention to a particular editor as one i have tried and one that is easy to use and is native to all os's as opposed to what has happened here in that its gone to a full scale "this does that .. that does this".

i'm happy this has drawn into a good focal point that has a few users very interested but my intention was purely to highlight its existance for those wanting to look for other alternatives :))

i'm going to fire up several different linux distros and see if notepad++ will go on any of them. reason for this is that wine is mainly only found on the very common stuff ... (ubuntu, fedora, open suse, debian) however .. lets see if the not so "public" distros will run anything.. ie Slitaz, Humanity, Centos
will have access to compatibilty stuff :))

Speaking of vim, I thought this was kinda funny, https://github.com/alevchuk/vim-clutch - Certainly not practical though.

@Cheiron you can always compile Wine yourself instead of using public repos. This is a good thread :)
@Hawkee lol that's certainly creative!

Now this could be useful, especially with the Dropbox integration, http://mit.edu/~georgiou/www/vi/

@Sean You can run notepad++ under WINE, but, as with quite a few Win programs under WINE the GUI is glitchy. NP++ flickers a bit and the layer order gets lost. (Dialogues that should be on top end up behind the document being edited for example)

@Cheiron I sort of came off as snobbish and I apologize. I wasn't trying to troll you or the such; was just trying to get info as to why, you yourself, chose bluefish as a preferred editor. I am pretty much a windows user and I guess that's why I lean on notepad++ so much. For windows its a grade A editor :P

@Hawkee Yikes! I understand the reasons for using VIM but I like me some good old fashion eye candy :P

Reason i chose it is i dont like running emulators basically.. i like using native software where i can and bluefish just caught my eye after someone recommended it to me.. i was on linux at the time and was running leafpad and had a look and it went from there :)

@SReject I have no need for eye candy. Basic syntax highlighting is good enough for me. MacVim has a nice tabbed interface so it's really all I need. I just prefer to use my keyboard to code rather than clicking everywhere with a mouse.