Text Editors with extra
features designed to make
programming easier
Built-In Compiler/Interpreter
IDEs will allow you to compile and run the
application directly from the IDE interface.
In IDLE, we press F5 to run the built-in interpreter
This is far more convenient than having to save the text and run it through a separate
compiler.
In Greenfoot, we click the compile button to compile the
code
Linker/Loader
Many IDEs will include the facility to
load multiple source files and link
them together.
Greenfoot does this well – it will load the
source files for all the classes in the
program.
Mode advanced IDEs include a
browser to show all the files
grouped together
Debugger
If your code contains a logic
error, it can be very difficult to
track down. A debugger is a
way to help with this.
The debugger steps through the code line
by line allowing the programmer to view
how the code executes and spot if the
wrong line is running.
Tracing
Tracing creates a log of what happens
while a program is running, including logs
of: Which variables have been changed
User inputs Loops
Which variables have been
changed
User inputs
loops
Viewing the trace can help the
programmer spot where it went
wrong.
Variable Watch
Advanced IDEs will keep a table of
variables that are used by the program,
and during de-bugging can even show the
contents of each variable at various
points.
Break Points
A break point is inserted at a particular point in the
code. When this code is reached, the execution
pauses, and the programmer can inspect the
contents of variables to see if they are as expected.
Break-points are used in
conjunction with the other
de-bugging tools.
Error Diagnostics
If a runtime error occurs, if the code is
interpreted, then the IDE can also trace the
source of this error as well.
When the compiler throws a syntax error, IDEs will help deal with
this error by highlighting the code that caused it.
Memory Inspector
This allows the programmer to view the contents of
memory locations as the program runs, to help spot
errors.
Some IDEs (particularly ones for Assembly
Language) will include a memory inspector.