What is an IDE?

We made our first program in Notpad. That is good method to start with Java. But if you want to get in professional environment, you should get hands on  IDE's. IDE'S are like  text editors but more complex.They have a lot of features that helps us in writing code.

IDE:-  

An IDE is Integrated Development Environment .An IDE is software application that enables users to easily write and debug code.IDE's are used for developing software and websites. 

 Features of IDE:- 

•   An IDE contains classes,libraries and plugins. They have feature for compiling,debugging and executing the programs.
• It is very helpful to use IDE's as they have different color highlighting for each instruction.
• They do have syntax checking or spell checkers. If you wrote a wrong syntax it will be underlined with red color.
• They also have auto indentation like your code is aligned in well formed manner with proper indentation. 
• They give us suggestions for writing code.
• Moreover,you can set color of IDE as your preference.Some coders prefer dark themes and  some light.

An IDE contains :- 

• Code Editor,
• Debugger.
• Compiler,

Some popular IDE's used for Java are:-

1. Eclipse
2. NetBeans
3. Intellij IDEA

In the next post, we will learn to install IDE for Java development. Stay Tuned!