I guess the fact that you can customize it with Python (it has an embedded Python console) and write plugins in python makes it easier for many developers to write their own plugins, while for Notepad++ you would have to write plugins in C/C++ and use DLLs which is more cumbersome.
In any case, in my opinion nothing beats Vim (well, emacs might be close, but I prefer Vim). When I need to use an IDE like IntelliJ Idea or Eclipse I install a Vim plugin. Some time ago I was using Sublime with Vintage mode, but then I improved my Vim knowledget past basic Vim and I now I prefer Vim to any other text editor.
Sublime is way faster to use and better all around and saves me tons of time(money) over using notepad++.
As far as the nag screen, I endured it for a while but I make money using sublime and enjoy using it want it to stay around so I purchased a license.
If the cost seems high, add the cost in to your next fixed cost project, typically clients aren't going to decline a proposal +/- $100. (don't list as a line item btw, just increase your quote by $100 to cover it).
You could also think about raising your rates. So you have more revenue for equipment/software.
Sublime has great time savers you might not have discovered yet.
This article is a little dated but covers some of the best things about sublime.
https://scotch.io/bar-talk/best-of-sublime-text-3-features-p...
This is a great series that shows off what Sublime can do: https://laracasts.com/series/sublime-text-mastery
Speaking of raising rates. A great way to get better higher paying projects is to learn Rails or Laravel.
Any pointers for someone looking for a remote gig ?
I decided to use it based on my own experience, not sure if it'll help you opt for it if you need other people to tell you so. Experience it first!
If you feel annoyed about the popup, pay for the license, it's cheap and you probably make 1000000x more from it in terms of profit over the investment you put.
Can someone describe the benefits of sublime over vscode or even atom(I find atom to be a lot slower than vscode)?
So many people swear by sublime so I assume there must be something I'm missing. At the same time I love the simplicity of adding plugins in vscode, and sharing settings through a git gist is great as well.
Sublime is just so much more responsive than it's Electron counterparts. They all have tradeoffs so if the increased resource usage for Code and Atom isn't issue for you then you may not see the need for Sublime. Additionally if you prefer the the ease of use of the plugins in Atom/Code, configuring them with the GUI, compared to the editing of JSON files to configure Sublime plugins might seem a bit annoying.
I used Atom for a while because it "just worked" but I switched to Sublime on a cheaper, low powered laptop and the difference in resource consumption is very apparent. Almost everything ran smoother while Sublime was open compared to Atom. The plugins were a bit more involved to get working but for that use case it was worth it.
And if you're annoyed by the popup, then just pay for it. It's not /that/ expensive if you use it daily. That being said I have not paid for it and the popup is just one click to dismiss. My CMD+S is essentially CMD+S+SPACE (to remove the popup should it appear).
In fact I use it a lot to monkey patch CSV files after searching for a regexp.
But most of the time I use Notepad++ for quick notes, dumping clipboard contents, parse logs, ... Pretty much everything except coding (I only do small scripts and the odd tiny utility).
