View source for Programming tool

{{short description|Computer program used to develop another program}}
{{distinguish|Programmable tooling}}
{{software development process}}
A '''programming tool''' or '''software development tool''' is a [[computer program]] that is used to [[software development|develop]] another computer program, usually by helping the developer manage [[computer file]]s. For example, a [[programmer]] may use a tool called a [[source code editor]] to edit [[source code]] files, and then a [[compiler]] to convert the source code into [[machine code]] files. They may also use [[Build automation|build tools]] that automatically package executable program and data files into shareable [[package manager|packages]] or [[Installation (computer programs)|install kits]].

A set of tools that are run one after another, with each tool feeding its output to the next one, is called a [[toolchain]]. An [[integrated development environment]] (IDE) integrates the function of several tools into a single program. Usually, an IDE provides a source code editor as well as other built-in or [[Plug-in (computing)|plug-in]] tools that help with [[compiler|compiling]], [[debugging]], and [[software test|testing]].

Whether a program is considered a development tool can be subjective. Some programs, such as the [[GNU compiler collection]], are used exclusively for software development while others, such as [[Windows Notepad|Notepad]], are not meant specifically for development but are nevertheless often used for programming.

== Categories ==

Notable categories of development tools:

* [[Assembly language|Assembler]] {{endash}} Converts assembly language into machine code
* {{Annotated link|Bug tracking system}}
* {{Annotated link|Build automation}}
* {{Annotated link|Code review|Code review software}}
* {{Annotated link|Compiler}}
* {{Annotated link|Compiler-compiler}}, a.k.a. parser generator
* {{Annotated link|Debugger}}
* {{Annotated link|Decompiler}}
* {{Annotated link|Disassembler}}
* {{Annotated link|Documentation generator}}
* {{Annotated link|Graphical user interface builder}} 
* {{Annotated link|Linker (computing)|Linker}}
* {{Annotated link|Memory debugger}}
* {{Annotated link|Minification (programming)|Minifier}}
* {{Annotated link|Prettyprint|Pretty-printer}}
* {{Annotated link|Profiling (computer programming)|Performance profiler}}
* {{Annotated link|Static code analysis|Static code analyzer}}
* {{Annotated link|Source code editor}}
* {{Annotated link|Source code generation}}
* [[Version control|Version control system]] {{endash}} Stores and tracks versions of files

==See also==
<!-- Please maintain alphabetical order -->

* {{Annotated link|Call graph}}
* {{Annotated link|Comparison of integrated development environments}}
* {{Annotated link|Computer aided software engineering}}
* {{Annotated link|Git}}
* {{Annotated link|GitHub}}
* {{Annotated link|Lint (software)|Lint}}
* {{Annotated link|List of software engineering topics}}
* {{Annotated link|List of unit testing frameworks}}
* {{Annotated link|Manual memory management}}
* {{Annotated link|Memory leak}}
* {{Annotated link|Reverse-engineering}}
* {{Annotated link|Revision Control System}}
* {{Annotated link|Software development kit}}
* {{Annotated link|Software engineering}}
* {{Annotated link|SourceForge}}
* {{Annotated link|SWIG}}
* {{Annotated link|Toolkits for User Innovation}}
* {{Annotated link|Valgrind}}

==References==
{{More footnotes|date=August 2010}}
{{reflist}}
{{refbegin}}
* [https://www.csm.ornl.gov/workshops/Petascale07 Software Development Tools for Petascale Computing Workshop 2007]
* {{Citation |last1=Kernighan |first1=Brian W. |author-link1=Brian Kernighan |last2=Plauger |first2=P. J. |author2-link=P. J. Plauger |year=1976 |title=Software Tools |publisher=Addison-Wesley |pages=[https://archive.org/details/softwaretools00kern/page/352 352] |isbn=0-201-03669-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/softwaretools00kern/page/352 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline|Programming tools}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Software engineering}}

[[Category:Programming tools|*]]