A set of programming tools for writing applications, which includes a source code editor, compiler and debugger. In an integrated development environment (IDE), all functions are activated from a common user interface. The use of IDEs is standard procedure for program development, both desktop and mobile, and for more than a quarter century, JetBrains has been a leader in this field (see
JetBrains). See
Eclipse,
Xcode,
Visual Studio,
compiler and
debugger.
IDEs Are Dramatically Different
After removing the common menus for File, Edit, Windows and Help in these examples, the remaining menus in these popular IDEs hardly resemble each other. When switching to a new platform, developers not only must learn a raft of new codes, they very often have to learn an entirely different IDE.