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Darren Healy
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 23,565 PointsIDE's...
What's the lowdown with IDE's? I'm hearing they are very powerful tools however I'm still getting up to speed with Sublime Text 2!
Can anyone with experience give me an overview of what an IDE can do that a text editor can't, as well as an example of when an IDE might be used specifically?
Thanks in advance
Darren
2 Answers
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherDarren;
Great question!
As a general rule I think people use whatever they feel makes them most productive for a given project. I use IDEs a lot for Java, JavaScript, Python, and Android development. That winds up often including HTML and CSS as well. If I am just doing some straight HTML/CSS I find that Sublime Text 2 with plugins is fine.
Some of the general features of an IDE over a text editor would be:
Integrated testing
Breakpoints/stepping through code
Integration with other services (database views), automated class diagrams
Ease of refactoring
Of course the more features offered comes with a larger memory footprint and generally a larger $ outlay as well.
In looking at your profile you haven't gone through any of the Java or Android courses yet. Android development is primarily done through an IDE and Treehouse has a new Java course on IDEs. You may find it useful to take a look at the course from a high level to see some of the features of IDEs in general.
Happy coding,
Ken
Caleb Kleveter
Treehouse Moderator 37,862 PointsKen Alger , what site is it that has the python for installing plugins to Sublime Text 3?
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherCaleb Kleveter, I'm not entirely sure. One because I don't use Sublime Text 3 in general and I haven't used Python to install plugins, just their Package Control feature for plugin installation in ST2. There are a multitude of plugins for most languages and lots of feature sets.
Happy coding,
Ken
Darren Healy
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 23,565 PointsDarren Healy
Front End Web Development Techdegree Student 23,565 PointsThanks Ken, that's helpful.
Android Development is on the list, so it's good to know I'll be exposed to it at some point!
Ken Alger
Treehouse TeacherKen Alger
Treehouse TeacherDarren;
As of right now (24 Jun 2015), the Android Development track does not include the Java centric IDE course I mentioned previously. I would highly encourage you to take the IDE course after getting your feet wet in Java and prior to launching fully into the Android development courses themselves. Since you would be utilizing Android Studio for the Android courses, and Android Studio is based off of IntelliJ, adding the IDE course to your task list would, in my opinion, be helpful. Not only for general knowledge but for development efficiency as well.
Just my thoughts. Happy coding,
Ken