Software Development Environment

A Software Development Environment is a computing environment that helps a software developer to solve a software programming task.

• AKA: Development Environment, Programming Environment.
• Context:
  • Task Input: Source Code, Development Tools, Project Resources
    • Optional Input: Configuration Settings, User Preferences
  • Task Output: Software Artifacts, Development Results
  • Task Performance Measure: Development Productivity, Code Quality, Build Success
  • ...
  • It can typically provide Development Tools through integrated interfaces.
  • It can typically manage Project Resources via environment setups.
  • It can typically support Code Development through programming aids.
  • It can typically enable Software Testing via test frameworks.
  • It can typically facilitate Code Management through version controls.
  • It can typically include Source Code Editors for code writing.
  • It can typically include Code Debuggers for error fixing.
  • It can typically integrate Compilers for code translation.
  • ...
  • It can often automate Build Processes through build scripts.
  • It can often assist Code Navigation via code browsers.
  • It can often enhance Code Quality through analysis tools.
  • It can often support Continuous Integration via automation systems.
  • It can often match Target Environments through configuration tools.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a On-Premise Development Environment to being a Cloud-Based Development Environment, depending on its hosting model.
  • It can range from being an Integrated Development Environment to being a Non-Integrated Development Environment, depending on its tool integration.
  • It can range from being a High-Code Development Environment to being a No-Code Development Environment, depending on its coding requirement.
  • It can range from being a Basic Development Environment to being an Advanced Development Environment, depending on its feature set.
  • It can range from being a Single-Language Environment to being a Multi-Language Environment, depending on its language support.
  • It can range from being a Traditional Development Environment to being an AI-Powered Development Environment, depending on its intelligence capability.
  • ...
  • It can utilize Development Environment Technologys such as code editors, compilers, debuggers, version control systems, and artificial intelligence models.
  • It can implement Development Environment Paradigms including text-based programming, visual programming, pair programming, and AI-assisted programming.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Software Development Environment Deployment Categories, such as:
    • Desktop Development Environments (local systems for individual developments), such as personal IDE systems.
    • Server Development Environments (remote systems for team developments), such as collaborative platform systems.
    • Cloud Development Environments (hosted systems for distributed developments), such as cloud-based IDE systems.
    • Mobile Development Environments (specialized systems for mobile developments), such as mobile IDE systems.
    • Web Development Environments (browser systems for web developments), such as web-based IDE systems.
  • Software Development Environment Target Categories, such as:
    • Enterprise Development Environments (custom systems for organization developments), such as:
      • VigLink Development Environments for business-specific developments.
      • OpenGov Development Environments for government-specific developments.
      • PlayStation Development Environments for game-specific developments.
      • Medable Development Environments for healthcare-specific developments.
      • LegalOn Development Environments for legal-specific developments.
  • Software Development Environment Intelligence Categories, such as:
    • Traditional Development Environments (conventional systems for manual development), such as:
      • Text Editor Development Environments for basic code editing.
      • Command-Line Development Environments for script-based development.
      • Graphical IDE Development Environments for visual development workflows.
    • AI-Powered Development Environments (intelligent systems for assisted development), such as:
      • Code Completion AI-Powered Development Environments for intelligent code suggestions.
      • Code Generation AI-Powered Development Environments for automated implementation.
      • Natural Language AI-Powered Development Environments for conversation-based development.
      • Multi-File Context AI-Powered Development Environments for project-wide intelligence.
      • Code Refactoring AI-Powered Development Environments for automated code improvement.
  • Software Development Environment Integration Categories, such as:
    • Integrated Development Environments (unified systems for comprehensive development), such as:
      • Visual Studio Development Environments for Microsoft ecosystem development.
      • Eclipse Development Environments for Java ecosystem development.
      • JetBrains Development Environments for multi-language development.
    • Composable Development Environments (modular systems for customized development), such as:
      • VS Code Development Environments with extension-based customization.
      • Vim Development Environments with plugin-based customization.
      • Emacs Development Environments with lisp-based customization.
  • Software Development Environment Specific Instances, such as:
    • Cloud-Based AI-Powered Development Environments, such as:
      • Replit Development Environment for web-based collaborative coding with AI-assisted development.
      • GitHub Codespaces Development Environment with GitHub Copilot integration.
      • Amazon Cloud9 Development Environment with CodeWhisperer assistance.
    • Desktop AI-Powered Development Environments, such as:
      • Visual Studio Code Development Environment with AI extensions.
      • IntelliJ IDEA Development Environment with AI assistant features.
      • PyCharm Development Environment with AI code completion.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • Text Editor, which lacks development tools.
  • Command Line Interface, which provides only basic operations.
  • File Manager, which handles only file operations.
  • Runtime Environment, which executes rather than develops software.
  • Software Integration Environment, which combines rather than develops code.
  • Testing Environment, which validates rather than develops software.
  • Staging Environment, which simulates rather than develops production.
  • Production Environment, which runs rather than develops software.
  • AI Code Generator Tool, which generates code snippets without providing a complete development environment.
  • Documentation Platform, which manages documentation rather than supports software creation.
• See: Development Tool, Programming Environment, Software Engineering, Development Platform, Code Editor, Compiler, Interpreter (Computing), Continuous Integration, Revision Control, Sandbox (Software Development), Artificial Intelligence in Software Development, Large Language Model Code Assistant, Pair Programming, Collaborative Development.

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References

2020

• (Wikipedia, 2020) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deployment_environment#Development Retrieved:2020-5-1.
  • The development environment (dev) is the environment in which changes to software are developed, most simply an individual developer's workstation. This differs from the ultimate target environment in various ways – the target may not be a desktop computer (it may be a smartphone, embedded system, headless machine in a data center, etc.), and even if otherwise similar, the developer's environment will include development tools like a compiler, integrated development environment, different or additional versions of libraries and support software, etc., which are not present in a user's environment.

    In the context of revision control, particularly with multiple developers, finer distinctions are drawn: a developer has a working copy of source code on their machine, and changes are submitted to the repository, being committed either to the trunk or a branch, depending on development methodology. The environment on an individual workstation, in which changes are worked on and tried out, may be referred to as the local environment or a sandbox. Building the repository's copy of the source code in a clean environment is a separate step, part of integration (integrating disparate changes), and this environment may be called the integration environment or the development environment; in continuous integration this is done frequently, as often as for every revision. The source code level concept of "committing a change to the repository", followed by building the trunk or branch, corresponds to pushing to release from local (individual developer's environment) to integration (clean build); a bad release at this step means a change broke the build, and rolling back the release corresponds to either rolling back all changes from that point onward, or undoing just the breaking change, if possible.

2021

• https://zurigroup.com/blog-best-practices-development-environments/
  • QUOTE: ... 4 Best Practices for Development Environments (shared by a developer)
    1. Establish a local development environment.
    2. Operate a single machine to both run the application and develop on
    3. Adopt source control
    4. Create a safe space for testing within the dev environment

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