Integrated Development Environments

By Jeff Alami

For many Linux developers, their idea of an integrated development environment (IDE) is simply vi or emacs. But as applications become more complex, and libraries and toolkits get more diverse, the need for integrated environments become more important for the developer. A wide variety of IDE's are available for the Linux platform, some of them focusing on particular toolkits such as GTK+ or Qt. Let's investigate some Free Software IDE's for Linux.

gIDE [GPL]

gIDE is a GTK+-based IDE for the C programming language, which is currently under development. gIDE's features include an internal editor, support for a replacement editor, keyword highlighting, a prototype generator, some project management, and customisable toolbars. Features that are planned for future versions of gIDE include a complete project management implementation and a complete debugging system.

gIDE Web site
gIDE screenshots
Download gIDE 0.1.1 source in tarball
Download gIDE 0.1.0 source and binaries in RPM [FTP]

KDevelop [GPL]

KDevelop is working toward a user friendly IDE for use with the K Desktop Environment. Some of the features of KDevelop include project management with autoconf/automake capability, an application wizard for rapid development, treeviews for file management, an integrated editor with syntax highlighting, an integrated documentation browser, and a class generator. KDevelop is in alpha phase and is under heavy development. To run KDevelop, you will need the standard development tools (compiler, GNU make, autoconf, automake) as well as Perl 5.004, KDE 1.1, KDE-SDK, and Qt 1.42.

KDevelop home page
KDevelop features
Screenshots of KDevelop
Download KDevelop 0.3.1

RHIDE [GPL]

RHIDE (Robert Hohne's IDE) is a text-mode integrated development environment which looks eerily similar to Borland's DOS-based IDE products such as Borland C++ and Turbo Pascal. Some of the features of RHIDE include the compiling of programs without knowing gcc commandline syntax, project management, syntax highlighting (for C, C++, and Pascal), an integrated debugger, and full customisation options. The Linux version of RHIDE is in beta development.

RHIDE home page
RHIDE screenshots
Download RHIDE 1.4 beta for Linux

Copyright (C) 1999 Zeta Publications. (Reproduced from Bleeding Edge Magazine)