Integrated development environments

An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that consolidates the core tools needed for software development into a single interface. An IDE is intended to enhance productivity by providing development features with a consistent user experience, as opposed to using separate tools such as a text editor, debugger, compiler, and build system independently.

At a minimum, an IDE typically supports source-code editing, source control, build automation, and debugging. Many IDEs also include features such as code completion, syntax highlighting, refactoring tools, and integration with testing frameworks and version control systems.

IDEs are typically designed to support a specific programming language or a set of related languages, or they are tailored to specific development tasks such as web development, mobile app development, or game development. There also exist specialized IDEs for specific domains, such as data science and embedded systems. Some IDEs are general-purpose and support multiple languages and development workflows. Some of these are frameworks for building custom IDEs, such as Eclipse Theia. Almost all modern IDEs are customizable and extensible through plugins or extensions.

Most IDEs in common usage are desktop applications. There is increasing popularity of cloud-based IDEs, which run in a web browser and provide access to development tools and environments hosted on remote servers. Cloud IDEs offer benefits such as accessibility from any device with an internet connection, easier collaboration among developers, and reduced setup and maintenance overhead. However, many developers still prefer desktop IDEs for their performance, offline capabilities, and deeper integration with local development environments.

Earliest IDEs

Many consider Dartmouth BASIC, which appeared in 1964, to be the first IDE, as it combined a language, editor, and execution environment in one place. However, this classification is debated, as it lacked some features associated with modern IDEs.

Maestro I, released by Softlab Munich in 1975, is widely regarded as the world’s first integrated development environment specifically built for software development. It was installed for 22,000 programmers worldwide, and until 1989, 6,000 installations existed in West Germany alone. Maestro was arguably the world leader in this field during the 1970s and 1980s. Today, one of the last surviving Maestro I systems can be found in the Museum of Information Technology in Arlington, Texas.

Turbo Pascal's integrated development environment, launched in 1983, combined a simple text menu screen, WordStar-like editor, the Pascal compiler, runtime library, and the ability to run in memory or compile to disk. It was one of the first editors to provide in-editor help and documentation so developers could look up libraries they were using, and it also introduced a search-and-replace functionality that helped with refactoring code.

But many believe Microsoft’s Visual Basic, launched in 1991, was actually the first real IDE by modern standards. The rise of Visual Basic meant that programming could be thought of in graphical terms, and noteworthy productivity benefits became apparent.

Modern IDEs

Desktop IDEs

  • Cursor — Minimalist IDE with focus on GenAI tooling.

  • Eclipse Theia — VS Code clone, intended to be a foundation for other desktop and cloud IDEs.

  • JetBrains IDEs — IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, etc.

  • PearAI — Open-source AI code editor.

  • Visual Studio Code — Free, open-source IDE from Microsoft.

  • Windsurf — "Agentic IDE" with deep genAI integration.

  • Zed — New cross-platform IDE written in Rust.

Cloud IDEs

  • Replit — Cloud development environments with built-in deployment automation.

Extensions

Generative AI extensions

See AI coding assistants.