Tech Sense: June 2026

Past Text

In May we discussed World Change your Password Day. While changing my passwords, I remembered that I use some tricks to make the job a little easier for me.  Instead of typing the new password into the website or app, I type it into a text editor, like notepad.  Then, I copy the new password and paste it into the website (or app).  Once I have created the new password, I logout and login again with the new password.  When I know the new password works, I add the new password to my password manager (and I usually delete the old one to avoid confusion).  When everything is good, I delete the contents of the text editor without saving it.

Text Editors

This got me thinking about the many text editors I have used over the years.  I didn’t actually use notepad, when changing my passwords, I used Vim (the Vi improved editor).  I used notepad as example because most people using Windows computers use notepad, an application that has been included with Windows from the very beginning.  However, my experience using text editors goes back 50 years when I became an electrical engineering student at the University of Maryland.

Past Text Editors

In those early days we didn’t have access to a text editor, we had to punch holes in cards to create lines of code.  Then we stacked them into a deck and submitted them to the “priests” behind the window at the computer science center. Then we waited a few hours to see if the program ran.  If it didn’t run, we had to hand scan the cards, find and correct the errors, and then resubmit to wait another few hours.  Editing was finding the incorrect cards, retyping them with corrections and replacing the bad cards with the corrected cards. 

I hated this process.  However, I did learn to make very few mistakes.  Working in the engineering building late one evening, I discovered the operations books for the computers.  I learned how to enter my code using a teletype and the computer included a primitive editor allowing me to edit code on the teletype.  I could even submit my code for execution, skipping the window of “priests”.  Even better, I could print out the required deck of cards I needed to turn in my assignments. 

Eventually, I started to have access to Unix computers.  Unix included the “ed” text editor from the beginning.  The Ex-editor was added and then the visual mode was added to Ex.  To start the Ex-editor in visual mode on Unix you simply entered “vi” (pronounced “vee-aye”) at the command prompt. 

(Side note: Unix and Linux are case sensitive for commands like vi and ex, hence the commands are normally all lowercase.)

CRT Terminals and WordStar

In the late 70s’ to the early 80’s the microcomputer boom was deeply underway, and many computers and operating systems were including primitive editors.  While Teletype terminals encouraged the development of line-oriented editors, the advent of the CRT terminals pushed for the screen or visual editors like “vi”.  Not only did Unix include the Ex/Vi editor but it also spawned the very powerful Emacs editor (Thank you Richard Stallman).

The CP/M operating system, which drove many of the business computers of the era, included its own very basic ED editor.  Many developers working on these computers were not happy with it but they all liked the WordStar work processor.  Turns out many people found this to be a good code editor as well.  This inspired a number of development tools to include a WordStar style editor with their development tools.  These included products like Dbase II and Turbo Pascal.  I purchased my first copy of Turbo Pascal not to write Pascal code but because it gave me a good WordStar code editor without the cost of buying WordStar.  So why did “WordStar” editors become so popular during this time?  WordStar was a very popular word processor at this time and different CRT  terminals had different keyboard layouts.  WordStar worked with most of them. This was unlike today’s computers, which mostly use common keyboard layouts.  This allowed the WordStar layout to dominate until Graphical User Interfaces like Apple and Windows began to dominate. 

Home computer displays typically provided built-in keyboards, and used TV sets for displays or separately plugged in monitors.  Think of the Apple II, Commodore Vic 20 and 64, Atari, Timex Sinclair, and others of that era.  These computers had built-in Basic interpreters with a minimal Basic editor.  Plain text editors were not included.

The GUI PC Era and the IDE

WordStar began with the Microcomputer era and ended with the success of Microsoft Office in the Windows world.  During this period, we saw several editors created to support software development and we started to see Integrated Development Environments often called IDE’s.  An IDE includes an editor (typically built-in), and compiler and often a debugger.  While some of these began before Windows, the Windows era and the arrival of Java really set the IDE tools on fire.  The Open-Source Java Tools, Eclipse, NetBeans, and others created IDE’s that could handle multiple languages including Java, JavaScript, C++, PHP, Rust, Perl, Python, and Ruby. 

From my perspective, these tools are great development tools, but they have become slow and complex making them a less suitable text editor.

Text Editors Today

Vi, Vim, Emacs, and even “ed” are still around.  I have been using Vim for Windows since Windows 3.1 and I also use it on my GUI based Linux computers.  Even when using an IDE I will keep Vim handy to write short snippets and paste it into code I am working on.  For me Vim makes certain operations easier.  Vim is also great when I need to write a batch file or other short script. 

I have never really used Windows Notepad myself, but it works for many others.  I believe Notepad++ is the most common free alternative to Notepad on Windows.  Microsoft now has VS Code (Visual Studio Code) which evolved from their IDE.  The code for VS Code claims to be open source, but the product seems to be under a non-open-source license from Microsoft.  Vim is still one of the most popular editors as is Emacs and both are available on Unix, Linux, Windows, and Apple. 

In the Future

I suspect that text editors will be around for a long time but in the future, I should be able to speak to them and tell them what they are doing wrong.  Have a great intro to summer.  My next story will come in July.