Programming tool
Computer program used to develop another program
title: "Programming tool" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["programming-tools"] description: "Computer program used to develop another program" topic_path: "general/programming-tools" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_tool" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Computer program used to develop another program ::
A programming tool or software development tool is a computer program that is used to develop another computer program, usually by helping the developer manage computer files. 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 tools that automatically package executable program and data files into shareable packages or 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 tools that help with compiling, debugging, and 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 Notepad, are not meant specifically for development but are nevertheless often used for programming.
Categories
Notable categories of development tools:
- Assembler Converts assembly language into machine code
- , a.k.a. parser generator
- Loader Loads executable files into memory and prepares them for execution by the CPU.
- Version control system Stores and tracks versions of files
References
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::