Quick Index
File Extensions


First we to understand file extensions

Plain Text File


What Is Plain Text?


When coding, we'll be saving our program code into plain text files.

It is important that these are plain text files.

The word "plain" here means that the text file does not contain formatting, it simply contains the characters visible in the file. Word processing documents contain fonts, colors, tabs, etc. We do not want this formatting. Therefore, we do not use word processors like "Word", etc.

Other names we will use for these plain text files:


Example Plain Text Filenames


Please note that the default extension for a plain text file is "txt". However, we'll often enter the filename with a "py" (if coding in Python), "java" extension (if coding in Java), etc. A few example plain text filenames:


How to Create a Plain Text File


To learn how to create a plain text file in Windows:


Plain Text Editors


When just starting coding, the two simplest plain text editors are:


There are many other plain text editors. Here are some references:


Nice Code Editors


See information on code editors that will make your coding funner:


Source File


What Is A Source File?


A source file is where we put our code. It is a text file.

Each coding languages has it's own file extension for source files:


See text file for more information.

ZIP File


What Is A ZIP File?



How to Create a ZIP File


Creating a ZIP file:


Once you do it a few times, you will find that creating a ZIP is straightforward and very handy.

Here are a couple quick demos:

Notes: