Integrated Development Environments
Computer Science: OCR A Level, topic 7.2.1
Integrated Development Environments
Integrated development environments (IDEs) are software packages that facilitate software development. They provide a number of features to make programming easier:
Code editor
- A code editor is a text editor which allows you to write the source code.
- The code editor usually contains extra features such as:
- Syntax highlighting.
- Code-completion.
Debug tools
- IDEs usually contain error diagnostics which will highlight syntax errors in real time as you program.
- IDEs usually also contain a debugger, which allows you to run your code line-by-line to find faults.
Translators
- The IDE will usually have an interpreter, compiler, or assembler built in.
- The IDE usually abstracts the translation process by providing the user with a 'Run' button rather than them having to use complex commands.
Run-time environment
- The run-time environment (RTE) allows you to run programs to test how well they work.
- There are often multiple run time environments available so that you can simulate your application on multiple different devices.