What counts as an IDE

ide

Recently reading the question What languages do you use without an IDE? One question asked in a few answers was "is Notepad++ and IDE?"

One answers to the original question said "None, I use vim…", implying that vim is an IDE. But then another answer suggested vim isn't an IDE.

So where is the line?

What about notepad, ed, or nano?

Is the only non-IDE coding technique the butterfly technique?

Best Answer

Taken literally, IDE = Integrated Development Environment.

This is the way i look at it:

  1. Integrated: Means you can code / launch / compile / debug your app from the tool.
  2. Development: Means it can group files into projects, and does syntax highlighting for your language, maybe has refactoring tools, ability to generate files from templates (like unit test files, class files etc.), auto complete / intellisense
  3. Environment: Means both of the above are available from the same tool

Notepad++ allows for development (eg. you can write code), but the other areas of development are not covered. I've never used notepad++ for development, only for occasionally editing files.

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