A word processor is not intended for writing programs. It has a lot of useless (and even harmful) features, such as text styles and "smart quotes," and it usually saves documents with formatting information that compilers cannot understand. A text processor is designed for unformatted text (plain old ASCII), and often has features that are expecially helpful in writing programs. If you have been writing programs using Notepad, WordPad, or Microsoft Word, do yourself a favor and try out one of the editors below.

Easy to use means I think you can get started using it without reading a manual first. You may have to read the documentation in order to use some of the fancy features.

Multiple undo refers to the ability to undo and redo many editing operations, not just the last one.

Syntax coloring refers to the ability of code editors to display keywords, comments, function names, etc. in a different color. If you haven't ever used it, syntax coloring sounds like a silly frill, but in fact it really helps you catch errors and find your way around in the code.

Parenthesis balancing means that the editor makes it easy (usually a single keystroke) to find the matching parenthesis, bracket, or brace.

Macros are a way of automating a sequence of operations that you do repeatedly.

Recommendations: If you have Java and Swing installed, and a reasonably fast computer, I highly recommend jEdit. But if your system isn't quite up to that, try out PFE, which is almost as good but doesn't have syntax coloring.

If you notice any errors in the above, please let me know.