Integrated Development Environments
Thinking of switching to an IDE for programming, or need some advice before starting out? Mats Tage Axelsson has five strong options for you…
Mats Tage Axelsson
Mats Tage Axelsson is happiest when writing how to make the world a better place with FOSS.
An integrated development environment (IDE) brings all the tools a developer needs into one interface. There’s no single IDE that will meet everyone’s requirements, so we’re here to highlight some of the best to help guide you towards development nirvana.
HOW WE TESTED…
For this Roundup, we looked at how quickly you can get started and what your options are for testing different choices. We checked how you can install and how much of your system you need to fill with libraries to get started. To test these IDEs, we ran them with a selection of sample projects and then tried to store, configure and create our own.
We installed and tried to start a project, and looked at how to configure your instance of the IDE. Many projects run from a common repository, GitHub is the biggest, and you need to stay up to date with the code using some type of version control system. The available choices are not new, so they support older control systems.
We also tested how you can adapt the editing experience within the environment. Finally, bear in mind that switching to an IDE doesn’t mean that you should overlook editors.
Basic editors are fine and require you to know how to set up a compiler. A full IDE removes much of this burden, but if you discover that some source code is missing, it’s good to know the basics so you can obtain your beautiful code to compile.
Most IDEs are similar in that they have an editor and a console. Where they differ is the style of settings, how the files are presented and how to debug. In your IDE, you’ll have many settings to make your work faster and less error prone. Apart for compiling, you’ll have help with code completion and software development kit (SDK) importing. To achieve this, you have many plugins available to support the language and libraries you use.
You also need to have a way to handle revisions and cooperate in projects with other developers. This is where you need an interface to source code-sharing websites such as GitHub, Sourceforge and GitLab. Revision handling is, after all, a crucial aspect of all development work.
Install the IDE on your system
Installing your environment is important even after you’ve started.
When you choose an IDE, you may think of it as any other application. There are a few details that you need to consider before you make your final selection, though. One is that the IDE will have been created with a specific language. Eclipse is written in Java, like several others in this comparison. This means that you need to have a JVM running.
If you can have an install where you can easily adapt the IDE to your newest project, you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble. It’s also useful to be able to install an IDE and know how to remove the whole thing. This is why you should check if there’s a snap or an AppImage available. Once you’re happy using the package on a daily basis, you should install it on your regular system.
Eclipse comes as a collection of jar files, and you run them from the directory where you copied them to. Using apt you can also install many compilers and other tools. Eclipse also comes as many different web services, for those of you who are unwilling to install your IDE. Another benefit of this is that it becomes easier to cooperate on the project if you can do so online.