The 6 Best Programming Software Tools for Developers

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Having the right programming software is important for developers seeking efficiency, collaboration, and precision in their coding practices

Here will engage ourselves in knowing the 6 best programming software tools which is good to use by developers, their features, performance etc.

Who is a Developer?

A developer is the key individual behind all software applications. Generally, developers are well versed in at least one programming language and proficient in the art of structuring and developing software code for software or a program. Depending on job role and type of software developed, a developer may be classified as a software developer, application developer, mobile developer, Web developer, etc.

Although the primary job role is writing code, a developer also may gather requirements for software, design or overall software architecture, software documentation and other related software development processes.

What are Programming Software Tools

A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that software developers use to create, debug, maintain, or otherwise support other programs and applications. The term usually refers to relatively simple programs, that can be combined to accomplish a task, much as one might use multiple hands to fix a physical object. The most basic tools are a source code editor and a compiler or interpreter, which are used ubiquitously and continuously. Other tools are used more or less depending on the language, development methodology, and individual engineer, often used for a discrete task, like a debugger or profiler.

6 Best Programming Software Tools for Developers

1. Visual Studio Code (VSCode)
2. IntelliJ IDEA
3. Sublime Text
4. Atom
5. PyCharm
6. Eclipse

1. Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

Visual Studio Code, developed by Microsoft, has risen to prominence as a lightweight yet powerful source code editor. it is also an editor that gets out of your way. The delightfully frictionless edit-build-debug cycle means less time fiddling with your environment, and more time executing on your ideas.

Available for macOS, Linux, and Windows

Edit, build, and debug with ease

Visual Studio Code features a lightning fast source code editor, perfect for day-to-day use. With support for hundreds of languages, VS Code helps you be instantly productive with syntax highlighting, bracket-matching, auto-indentation, box-selection, snippets, and more. Intuitive keyboard shortcuts, easy customization and community-contributed keyboard shortcut mappings let you navigate your code with ease.

For serious coding, you'll often benefit from tools with more code understanding than just blocks of text. Visual Studio Code includes built-in support for IntelliSense code completion, rich semantic code understanding and navigation, and code refactoring.

And when the coding gets tough, the tough get debugging. Debugging is often the one feature that developers miss most in a leaner coding experience, so we made it happen. Visual Studio Code includes an interactive debugger, so you can step through source code, inspect variables, view call stacks, and execute commands in the console.

Features

1. Debugging
2. Code Navigation
3. Git Integration
4. Language Mode
5. Keyboard Shortcuts

2. IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is a highly popular integrated development environment (IDE) developed by JetBrains. It is designed primarily for Java but also supports a wide range of programming languages including Kotlin, Groovy, Scala, and more. This software development tool is highly beneficial for programmers since with it they can efficiently create, edit, debug, and manage code in various applications.

Features of Intellij Idea

1. Developers can manage and query databases within the IDE, with support for SQL, database diagrams, and data source management.
2. It includes powerful test runners and code coverage tools to ensure thorough testing of your applications.
3. With IntelliJ IDEA developers can work on projects for multiple platforms like web, desktop, mobile, and cloud-based applications.
4. Developers can create custom code templates and utilize code generation features to speed up development tasks.
5. One of the important features is that JetBrains regularly releases updates with new features and performance improvements. 

IntelliJ IDEA editions

IntelliJ IDEA comes in two editions:

1. IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate: a full-featured Java and Kotlin IDE. It includes all the features of the Community edition, plus adds support for languages that other IntelliJ platform-based IDEs focus on, as well as support for a variety of server-side and front-end frameworks, application servers, integration with database and profiling tools, and more.
2. IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition: a free IDE built on open-source code that provides essential features for Java and Kotlin enthusiasts.

3. Sublime Text

Sublime Text is renowned for its speed and simplicity. Sublime Text is one of the most popular text editors in the world. It’s jam-packed with powerful features like multi-line editing, build systems for dozens of programming languages, regex find and replace, a Python API for developing plugins, and more.

Developers appreciate its powerful search and navigation capabilities, as well as the ability to customize and extend functionality through packages.

How To Download Sublime Text

Sublime Text is available from the official Sublime Text website as a free download. With that said, Sublime Text is technically not “freeware.” Instead, Sublime Text is a “shareware” app, which means it can be downloaded for free, but there may be some feature limitations after a period.

In the case of Sublime Text, the app will continue working indefinitely, but you’ll occasionally see a pop-up with details on how to purchase the app. Download For Windows

Features

1. Macros
2. Compiler Integration
3. Syntax Highlighting
4. Refreshed UI
5. Simultaneous editing

4. Atom

Developed by GitHub, Atom is an open-source text editor that has gained traction for its ease of use and extensive customization options. Built on web technologies, Atom provides a smooth and responsive coding experience

GitHub for Atom

A text editor is at the core of a developer’s toolbox, but it doesn't usually work alone. Work with Git and GitHub directly from Atom with the GitHub package.

Create new branches, stage and commit, push and pull, resolve merge conflicts, view pull requests and more—all from within your editor. The GitHub package is already bundled with Atom.

Benefits Of Using Atom

1. Customizable color schemes to make code more readable
2. A wide selection of third-party plugins to catch coding errors
3. Keyboard shortcuts to speed up your workflows
4. Automatic code indentation
5. Highlighting language-specific syntax
6. The ability to view your project’s file and folder structure in a tree view

Features

1. Git Integration
2. Auto detect indentation
3. Reference highlighting
4. Auto Completion
5. Customization

5. PyCharm

PyCharm is a hybrid platform developed by JetBrains as an IDE for Python. It is commonly used for Python application development. Some of the unicorn organizations such as Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Pinterest use PyCharm as their Python IDE!

It supports two versions: v2.x and v3.x.

We can run PyCharm on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS. Additionally, it contains modules and packages that help programmers develop software using Python in less time and with minimal effort. Further, it can also be customized according to the requirements of developers.

What is IDE

An IDE consists of an editor and a compiler that we use to write and compile programs. It has a combination of features required for developing software.

Features

1. Refactoring
2. Intelligent code completion
3. Debugging
4. Remote development
5. Integrated Debugging

6. Eclipse

Eclipse is an integrated development environment (IDE) used in computer programming. It contains a base workspace and an extensible plug-in system for customizing the environment.

Eclipse has long been a stalwart in the realm of Java development. This extensible IDE supports a range of programming languages through plugins and offers tools for modeling, testing, and building applications.

How to write code on Eclipse

1. Launch Eclipse. Launch Eclipse by running " eclipse.exe " from the Eclipse installed directory.
2. Create a new "Java Project"
3. Write a Hello-world Java Program (or "Java Class") 
4. Compile & Execute the Java Program

Features

1. Code debugging
2. Project management
3. Code highlighting

Final Thoughts

The six programming software tools highlighted—Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ IDEA, Sublime Text, Atom, PyCharm, and Eclipse—represent the diverse needs of developers across various domains. All these software tools are greatly used by developers and they are very remarkable on each of them. So many tool features were not mentioned above to show how huge it is. Now its left for you to select the best programming software tool you will use.

You can explore on more on how to be a developer then learn how to use those tools

Good Luck!!