If you prefer to write your Apex and Visualforce code outside Salesforce.com or Force.com IDE – you may find tough time in finding the right code editor. I have not come across any other code editor that supports programming languages Apex and Visualforce.
Considering the fast growth of programmers working on Apex and Visualforce I am sure very soon we will have code editor programs supporting the Apex and Visualforce.
Using Notepad ++ as Apex and Visualforce code editor
If you love working on Notepad++ you can use it for the Apex and Visualforce syntax highlighting.
Just by copying and pasting it may not work as Notepad++ still does not recognizes Apex and Visualforce as a programming language. You will need to turn on Java and HTML as language to view Apex and Visualforce respectively.
Turn on Java to view Apex
Turn on HTML to view Visualforce
Apex Class in Notepad++
Here is how the Apex Class looks in Notepad++
Apex Trigger in Notepad++
Here is how an Apex trigger looks in Notepad++
Visualforce page in Notepad++
Here is how a Visualforce page looks in Notepad++
You can also create a User Defined Language file for Apex and VisualForce.
