Introducing general-purpose IDEs

In this video Amy introduced some general-purpose IDEs.

General-purpose IDEs have a wide range of tools to support you in using a wider variety of languages and that makes them really useful no matter which language you’re using. Some of them are very simple.

Now lets think about how you pick your IDE.

Choosing the right integrated development environment (IDE) is an important decision when creating software. IDEs help programmers write, test, and debug code. There are many IDEs available, each with their own features, strengths, and weaknesses. It’s important to think about your project’s specific needs, like the programming language, size and complexity of the code and if you’re working with others.

Language-specific or general-purpose?

If you’re working with just one language, such as Python or Java, you might prefer to use the language-specific IDEs you saw earlier such as IntelliJ or PyCharm. These have special features and tools designed to make writing those languages much easier but won’t be as helpful if you need to use another language.

However, many developers work in multiple languages and it can be easier to have one single IDE which can be used with all these languages. This means you only have to learn how to use one IDE, which can be important when you’re a new programmer.

Working with others?

If you’re working on a big project with lots of people, it’s important to use an IDE that helps with collaboration. Visual Studio Code is a good IDE for collaboration. It lets people work together in real-time and review each other’s code.

If you’re working alone on a smaller project, Sublime Text is a simpler IDE to use. It still has good features, like highlighting and autocompletion, but is a bit easier to navigate.

Personal preference?

The choice of IDE can be influenced by personal preferences. For example, when programming in C, a mixture of simple IDE and command line tools can be preferred over a complex IDE that runs the code. When programming in Python, an IDE like PyCharm or IDLE that allows running the code from within the IDE may be preferred.

As you use different IDEs and branch out to programming in different languages, you will develop your own preferences . Remember to try out different IDEs to find the one that works best for you.