Integrated development environment features can vary from tool to tool.
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a piece of software that combines multiple tools appropriate for application or database development in a single graphical user interface (GUI).
They are often described as a “swiss army knife” for developers. Their purpose is to facilitate a developer’s activities by having everything they need, or at least as much as possible, available from a unified interface.
With the right IDE features, users can improve productivity and efficiency.
Using the same interface for multiple tools enables users to develop familiarity, learn shortcuts, and get more done.
Employing a single tool rather than multiple applications can also save an organization's money, by reducing licensing costs.
What Are the Best IDE Features?
Finding the right IDE for a development team can be challenging. There are several characteristics and features that separate great IDEs from those that are merely serviceable.
Following are some of the most key features of IDEs that should be taken into account when selecting an IDE for your team:
Operating system support
You want an IDE that can be deployed on multiple operating systems if possible. This allows team members to use the tool on a familiar system. You want to avoid forcing users to engage with an unfamiliar operating system to access the IDE. Making it easy for the team to get to the tool will contribute to its use by all of your developers.
Target system compatibility
The IDE selected needs to be compatible with the systems that will be developed or supported. Application developers will want an IDE that supports the programming language or languages they are using to build their systems. In the case of database developers, the IDE should ideally support interaction with multiple database platforms used in the computing environment.
Increased platform support makes the IDE more valuable to the team and further boosts productivity while reducing any learning curve associated with implementing the tool. In general, more platform support results in a superior tool that enjoys widespread use throughout the team.
A complimentary toolset
This characteristic is dependent on the type of IDE under discussion and the kind of team that will use the tool. The available toolset must meet the requirements of the developers or it won’t matter how many platforms it supports. Application programmers and database developers have different needs when it comes to IDE tools.
Database developers want tools that facilitate the activities they need to perform every day. Some of the tasks they need to cover are writing, editing, and debugging SQL code. A great database IDE should make it easy to work with SQL statements and provide visual tools to streamline the workload.
Another important set of tools enables the team to create visualizations that highlight certain aspects of their data. Through the use of targeted visualizations, complex information can be disseminated to a widely diverse audience that includes technical experts and more business-oriented decision-makers.
In the end, the toolset provided by an IDE is one of its most distinguishing features and needs to be carefully evaluated when choosing the right solution for your team.
Collaborative options
Using an IDE across multiple platforms with different developers opens the door to productivity-enhancing collaboration throughout the team. Tips and tricks learned about the IDE by the team supporting the SQL Server environment might work quite well with the Oracle developers. Using the same IDE provides a common language that developers can use to converse productively about their systems.
A Comprehensive IDE for Database Teams
Aqua Data Studio meets all the prerequisites of a great IDE for database developers and administrators. It can be run from Windows, Linux, or macOS machines, allowing developers to use the tool in a comfortable setting and making it more likely that it will become a preferred application.
Multi-platform database support is one of the IDE’s strong points, as the tool supports over 40 different databases from SQL Server to Snowflake. Developers can securely access all of their supported systems from a unified interface.
The toolset provided by Aqua Data Studio gives a database developer exactly what they need to write efficient and well-performing SQL statements with a query builder and query analyzer. A wide variety of visualization options allows developers to make their data speak loudly and clearly to any intended audience.
Database teams looking for an IDE to improve productivity should give Aqua Data Studio a test drive. They won’t be sorry they did.