| Name | Platform | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Vim | CLI / Cross-Platform | Vim is one of the most popular text editors among advanced programmers. It allows text-editing to be done very efficiently with solely keystrokes. Vim is also highly configurable, extensible and integrates with shells (command lines) really well. The only setback about Vim is that it has a high learning curve for beginners. |
| Emacs | CLI / Cross-Platform | Emacs is another popular text editor (or development environment to be more precise). The debate on "Vim vs. Emacs" is constantly brought up due to their popularity. Basically Emacs is more than just a text editor. It has plugins like file managers, web browsers, mail clients and news clients that allows users to performs these tasks directly inside Emacs. Emacs is "heavier" because of this, but it arguably has a relatively easier learning curve for beginners. |
| Code::Blocks | GUI / Cross-Platform | Code::Blocks is the go-to IDE for C/C++. It's a full-fledged, versatile IDE with numerous great features. Code::Blocks is usually provided along with Vim in programming contests. |
| IntelliJ IDEA | GUI / Cross-Platform | IntelliJ IDEA is certainly one of the best IDEs for Java. It's used by most competitive programmers who use Java as their main language. Be sure to check out CHelper, a very handy plugin written for programming contests. |
| Sublime Text | GUI / Cross-Platform | Sublime Text is an extraordinary text editor. Packed with powerful and innovative features like Multiple Carets, Minimaps and Command Palletes, it attracts a strong and engaging community. Sublime Text is highly extensible, so be sure to have Package Control installed and explore perhaps one of the largest catalogue of plugins! |
| Eclipse | GUI / Cross-Platform | Eclipse is another good IDE for Java. It's an okay alternative to Intellij IDEA (A tad inferior to IDEA by today's standards). Sometimes contests only provide Eclipse for some reason, so this might be a good incentive to try and use Eclipse. |
| CLion | GUI / Cross-Platform | CLion, produced by JetBrains - the same company who made Intellij IDEA, is a powerful IDE for C++. Free educational licenses are available. You may want to turn off its code inspection feature as it will cause quite a bit of lag. |
| Other IDEs | Mixed | Visual Studio is the IDE to use in case you want to code in C#. ... Both Atom and Visual Studio Code are built with Electron (written in JavaScript) and therefore somewhat resource-hogging. ... CodeLite is a newly rising IDE. Beware that the load-up and project-creation times can be extraordinary. |