Software development tools aid developers in software development processes to achieve effective and optimized projects. There are tons of these tools, and each one promises productivity to help you achieve your target on time. Hence, choosing the best might prove challenging and require you to know the top software development tools to make an informed choice.
This article seeks to help you surmount the hurdle of which software development tool to choose by curating a list of the best software development tools. It also considers your budget by providing the software development tool’s cost.
The 10 Best Software Development Tools:
Amazon web services, Axure, Azure, BitBucket, Bootstrap, Figma, GitHub, HTML5 Builder, NetBeans, Visual Studio.
What is Software development?
Software Development is the process, and technique programmers employ to conceptualize, specify, design, program, and build computer programs. It includes various stages, providing a structure to build efficient products that meet user requirements and fit within a defined budget.
The process, otherwise known as the software development life cycle, serves as an international model that software companies and developers can imitate to build and improve their software programs. The defined framework helps the development team design, create, and maintain high-quality software.
What Are the Main Types of Software Development Tools?
Software development tools vary according to their functions and uses. However, a plethora of them share similar features and play similar roles. Hence, they can be generally categorized together to help you streamline them to the purpose of your project. Below are the main types of Software development tools.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
An Integrated Development Environment combines specific developer tools to build applications, create drivers, and utilities. IDE assists in writing quality codes, warns about memory leaks, corrects syntaxes, debug codes, and monitors resources.
Examples of IDE Tools
NetBeans, Visual Studio
Prototyping Tools
These software development tools ease the stress of product creation. They make the building of software speedy and much more effective. Interactive prototypes help you and your client overview your idea, interaction, and product before the final stage.
Examples of Prototyping Tools
Axure, Figma
Software Framework Tools
Software frameworks are models for developing software applications. They are software abstractions that provide generic functionality and allow the developer to make selective changes by adding user-written code and ultimately producing application-specific software.
Examples of Software Framework Tools
Bootstrap, HTML5 Builder
Cloud Tools
Cloud-based tools are online-based tools that the developer can generally access through a web-based browser. It features a development platform as a service (PaaS) to enable a developer to build and deploy software applications without having to download anything to their device.
Examples of Cloud Tools
Amazon web services, Azure
Source Control Tools
These tools allow you to track and manage changes to codes. They allow users to merge contributions from various sources and collaborate simultaneously on the same codes without compromising the overall build. They alert developers to conflicts on code merges and help them resolve errors.
Examples of Source Control Tools
GitHub, BitBucket
The best software development tools explained below also highlight the features they possess and the platforms on which they’re available. Developers can use this guide to determine which tool is best suitable for each project stage and how to access them.
Amazon web services; Type: Cloud tool, Cost: Pay-as-you-go
This comprehensive cloud-computing platform serves as a reliable and low-cost infrastructure space in the cloud, powering millions of businesses to turn their capital infrastructure expenses into variable costs. It is a subsidiary of Amazon with an unlimited server capacity. AWS is a solid place to store your information as it also offers reliable encryption and security.
Axure; Type: Prototyping tool, Cost: $29 monthly
Axure is a fully integrated software for creating highly interactive prototypes for mobile, web, and desktop applications. Axure helps to create and maintain widget libraries. It eliminates the need to use different design tools and allows multiple people to work on the same file simultaneously. It is beneficial to Business analysts, IT consultants, and product managers in generating prototypes.
Azure; Type: Cloud tool, Cost: $0.0184 monthly
Microsoft Azure is a cloud computing platform that makes it easier to create and globally deploy applications compatible with popular webs and platforms. The Platform is scalable, secure, and offers performance-efficient storage services in the cloud. It includes Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Software as a service (SaaS), and Platform as a service(PaaS) that developers can use for virtual, analytical, networking, and computing services.
BitBucket; Type: Source control tool, Cost:$3 monthly, standard plan.
BitBucket is a Git repository management cloud-based service that collaborates on source codes and guides you through your development flow. It has a well-integrated set of products that allows you automatically build and test your code on a configuration file in your repository. BitBucket integrates well with Jira and facilitates easy collaboration among a software development team.
Bootstrap; Type: Software Framework tool, Cost: Free.
Bootstrap is a free front-end CSS Framework for designing responsive websites and applications compatible with both iOS and Android. This UI framework has excellent documentation and easily creates interface components. However, employers consider reliance on it as evidence of a lack of knowledge about CSS basics and performance. You don’t need bootstrap if you’re already proficient with CSS.
Figma; Type: prototyping tool, Cost:$12 monthly per editor.
Figma is a prototyping and web-based user interfaces design tool. It is famous for its teamwork and collaborative features as it allows multiple team members to work on the same project in real-time. It also has additional offline features making it less resource-intensive. Figma is suitable for beginners and professionals as it is easy and intuitive.
GitHub; Type: source control tool, Cost: $4 monthly per team member.
Github is a powerful development platform and collaboration tool. It is easily integrated with other tools and helps users host and review code while coordinating their tasks accordingly. Some developers use GitHub to experiment with new programming languages in their projects. It is free for public use and open-source projects.
HTML5 Builder; Type: software Framework tool, Cost: Free.
HTML5 Builder is a development environment that allows developers to create visually dynamic content applications with a single code base. This software solution creates enterprise or ISV web and mobile apps using web client standards such as CSS3, JavaScript, and HTML5. It develops cross-platform apps with flexible cloud services and increases development speed with a single visual framework.
NetBeans; Type: IDE tool, Cost: Free.
NetBeans is an open-source, Java-based IDE that simplifies web and app development. It has fantastic Java support that allows optimal functionality and version control out of the box. It is famous for supporting easy and efficient project management processes. NetBeans helps to write bug-free codes and enables rapid user interface development.
Visual Studio; Type: IDE tool, Cost: Free.
Microsoft Visual Studio is a free and powerful IDE that offers you live assistance to write C# and visual basic code through Intellisense and analyzers. This tool includes a code editor, GUI design tool, database schema designer, and debugger to facilitate the software development process.
Why Are Software Development Tools Important?
Software development tools are crucial to every software developer because it will be impossible to create or build any software programs without them. They are the toolkits that form the basis of every development Process.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the job outlook for software developers to grow 20 percent between 2020-2030, much faster than the average for all occupations. It also offers a median annual wage of $110,140. The only way to partake in the mouth-watering offers as a software developer is to be well-versed in developing programs using these tools.
Software Development Tools FAQ
What are software development tools?
Software development tools are generally software tools that programmers employ to create, repair, manage, and enhance other Software programs. These tools address the essential needs during the development of programs by aiding developers to create codes, edit, debug, perform, and maintain other development specific-task.
What are the best software development Tools?
There are various software development tools with excellent features. The peculiarity or stage of the software you want to develop determines which tool is most suitable for you. Generally, developers consider Axure, NetBeans, and text editors such as VScode(Visual studio code) as one of the best software development tools.
Are Web Development tools the same as Software Development tools?
Although we developers differ from software developers, some of their tools overlap. Web Development is generally concerned with developing web-based applications, while Software development deals with window-based applications. Developers can use software developing tool types such as prototyping, cloud, and IDE tools to develop web applications.
How do I choose Software development tools?
While some software development tools are versatile and can perform numerous functions, others are streamlined to perform specific tasks. Hence, in choosing a suitable tool, you should consider factors such as your ability to integrate the tool into your project, your company’s standards, prior experience with the tool, the tool’s usefulness and applicability to the environment.