Quick Index
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:































Introduction To Objects With Java (Chapter 102 - Working With Files)










Chapter 102 - Working With Files Plain Text File

Contents Overview Video File Types Directories Console Editing Challenge

Chapter Top Search TOC