-So, now let's look in a little more detail to what is an IDE. An IDE is a - -2
-software application that supports software developers in many of - -3
-their everyday tasks. It has many useful features. Most IDEs - -4
-provide views that can be used to navigate, project - -5
-resources from different perspectives. For example, you might want to - -6
-look at your code differently when you're writing code, - -7
-and when you're debugging. They also normally provide an intelligent - -8
-source code editor. For example, an editor that will allow you - -9
-to browse the documentation when you're writing a code that - -10
-uses a specific method, or that will give you autocompletion when - -11
-you start writing the name of an object and you want to - -12
-get the methods for that object. And all of these things - -13
-can be very useful while you're developing and can save you a - -14
-lot of time. Modern IDE's will also normally give you support for - -15
-version control systems that then you - -16
-can use for softer configuration management. - -17
-And we're going to discuss in detail version control systems in - -18
-the next tools of the trade lesson, and we're also - -19
-going to see how it can be integrated within an IDE. - -20
-IDEs also give you builders so they give you build automation - -21
-tools, they give you runtime support. So that you can - -22
-run your projects from within the IDE and, for example, - -23
-observe some aspects of the execution. In addition to giving - -24
-you support for the runtime, they give you support for testing. - -25
-Many IDEs allow you to run tests from within - -26
-the IDE and to check the results of the tests - -27
-from within the IDE. Not only that. Normally, after you - -28
-run your tests, if there are some test cases that - -29
-fail, you can also use your IDEs to do debugging. - -30
-Many IDEs include graphical debuggers. Debuggers will allow you to - -31
-navigate through the code, set which points, stop and restart - -32
-the execution. Inspect variables, and do all of the activities - -33
-that help debugging. And, to help you be more efficient - -34
-and more effective when you do debugging. And into addition to - -35
-all these features that are listed here IDEs can normally provide - -36
-you even more features through a mechanishm that is called plugins. -- cgit 1.4.1