So, I have been mostly self thaught programmer (C++), as its a big part of my job (not a regular developer). But so far I have been using a simple text editor like Geany to code and I compile stuff either in terminal (linux) or produce my own make file.

I am starting to wonder if I should switch to a full IDE, as I am on linux, I was thinking of trying KDevelop. But I am simply not sure if its worth, do I even need it?

I have never used an IDE, it seems kind of complicated for the start with “projects” and I havent really found any good introductions to how this workflow is supposed to work.

Do you think using and IDE is something everyone should use? Or do you think a text editor with producing your own make files should be enough?

  • @hperrin
    link
    21 year ago

    An IDE can certainly help a lot. Things like code completion and type definition lookups are great, and automatic refactoring (when it works) is nice. I code in an IDE, but I don’t use the built in terminal or debugging tools. If you can use those, they can really help too.