Use Notepad++ to Compile and Run Java Programs

Prerequisites

If you haven’t already installed Java and Notepad++, the first step is to install JDK and Notepad++.

Download and install JDK, Java Runtime Enviroment, and Notepad++.

Once the pre-requisites are installed, we can go to the next step.

Install NppExec Plugin in Notepad++

Go to the Plugins menu option Plugins Admin and install the NppExec plugin.

Don’t be confused with the second picture. If the NppExec is already installed, it will not be shown in the list. Notepad++ will be closed to install the plugin; once the plugin is installed, go to the next step.

Set Environment Variables

Go to the start menu and search Environment Variable and open as mentioned in the pictures below:

In the user variable section, click new and add the JAVA_HOME variable; the directory should be your JDK directory:

Now press edit for the path in the system variables list:

Click New and add %JAVA_HOME%\bin then click ok three times till the properties menu is closed:

At this moment, you will need to restart your pc so the environment variables can work properly.

Run Java Program on Notepad++

In Notepad++, create a new file, write a Java program, and save it with a .java extension, which is, in our case, Java_notepadpp.java.

Once the program is saved, go to plugins and open Execute NppExec Script from NppExec.

Write the following command in the box opened:

cd $(CURRENT_DIRECTORY)
javac $(FILE_NAME)
java $(NAME_PART)

Save the commands as Java_Run.

Once the commands are saved, we can now run Java programs. Go to plugins and open Execute NppExec Script from NppExec.

Select Java_Run and click ok to run the Java file in the console; see the output below.

The Java program is successfully compiled in Notepad++. Now, you can run Java programs in Notepad++.

Here is another example:

public class Java_notepadpp {
	public static void main(String args[])
	{
	System.out.println("This is a demo to run the JAVA program in Notepad++");
	}
}

Let’s run and get the output:

The Java program is successfully compiled in Notepad++.