Best Software Development Tools To Help Improve Your Productivity

In the software development process, programmers use different software development tools, including IBM i modernization tools. Here we will talk about what categories of tools there are and what are the best ones in each category.

Top 10 Best Software Development Tools for 2023

1. Xosphere 
2. Cloud Financial Management Tools 
3. Figma 
4. LucidChart 
5. Ansible 
6. Selenium 
7. Galen – Layout frame testing
8. Beanstalk 
9. JIRA 
10. Smartsheet

What Is The Definition Of Software Development Tools?

A software development tool is program developers use to create, edit, maintain, and debug software.

There are different types of software development tools. For example, code editors, compilers, debuggers, GUI designers, code testing and profiling tools, etc. They provide many useful features to simplify and speed up the software development process and frequently automate repetitive tasks. This improves developer productivity and software quality.

What Are The Best Software Development And Programming Tools?

There are numerous programming tools available to aid in the software development process. It is challenging to select the best. The best software development tools have been covered in the following categories:

• Recommended Software Development Tools
• IDEs (Integrated Development Environment)
• Frameworks For Software Development
• Cloud Tools For Software Development
• Data Science Tool
• Source Control Tool
• Prototyping Tool
• UML Tool

Recommended Software Development Tools

Visual LANSA

Visual LANSA is a low-code solution for building mobile, responsive web, and desktop applications. It offers tools for building applications with minimal code and performing software modernization.

Main advantages:

• Using a single code base for the entire application. Developers do not need to know different programming languages, simplifying the development process and making it cheaper.
• Active repository mechanism. All elements necessary for the application are stored in the general repository. This improves efficiency and flexibility.
• An easy-to-use development environment allows developers to move from visual drag-and-drop development to scripting quickly.
• Low-level code compilation ensures high performance across multiple hosted platforms.
• The ability to deploy to multiple devices, from desktop to mobile, without making changes to your code.
• An easy process of legacy applications modernization and extending their functionality.

Collaborator

Collaborator is a tool that allows collaborative code and document reviews for development teams.

Main advantages:

• Ability to view documents and images in different formats.
• Support 11 version control tools, including Git, SVN, TFS, Perforce, CVS, ClearCase, RTC, and more.
• Possibility to validate verification using electronic signatures and detailed reports.
• Integration with all significant SCMs, IDEs, project management tools, documentation, and bug tracking.
• The opportunity to track and manage defects in your code reviews.

RAD Studio

RAD Studio is a robust development environment for creating apps for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux. It allows you to create beautiful user interfaces for desktop and mobile applications.

Main advantages:

• The single code base for all major platforms.
• Fast, native cross-platform development using the FireMonkey user interface framework.
• Ability to connect to more than 20 databases using high-speed FireDAC direct access.
• HTTP and REST client libraries for calling REST services or AWS and Azure components.
• Powerful enterprise CData connectors to access over 70 data sources.

Studio 3T

Studio 3T for MongoDB is a tool for fast query creation, code generation, import/export to various formats, and more.

Main advantages:

• Writing SQL queries directly in MongoDB. Saving the results of query execution.
• The ability to debug SQL queries and check them for correct operation.
  Auto-complete queries with IntelliShell.
• A simple and clear GUI that allows users to use drag and drop elements to create queries.
• The ability to import JSON, CSV, BSON/mongodump, and SQL files into MongoDB and get previews of output documents as changes are made.

IDEs (Integrated Development Environments)

Apache NetBeans

Apache NetBeans is a popular open-source IDE. It allows programmers to develop desktop, mobile, and web applications.

Main advantages:

• Fast and smart code editing.
• Simple and efficient project management process.
• Rapid GUI development.
• Ability to install on any OS that supports Java.
• The code editor offers robust tools, code generators, code templates, and coding tips for easy refactoring.
• Static code analysis tools allow users to reduce the costs associated with bugs in the code.
• The Profiler feature can help optimize application speed and memory usage.

Frameworks For Software Development

Bootstrap

Bootstrap is a responsive development framework for HTML, CSS, and JS. It has many built-in components that can be easily dragged and dropped to build responsive web pages.

Main advantages:

• Ability to use ready-made code blocks.
• An extensive list of components is available.
• The base style for most HTML elements.
• Customization for the specific needs of the project.
• Easy to use. To get started with Bootstrap, a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is enough.
• Responsive CSS Bootstrap adapts to phones, tablets, and desktops.
• Pre-installed components for alerts, dropdowns, navigation bars, and more.
• Compatible with all modern browsers.

Cloud Tools For Software Development

Azure

Microsoft Azure is a cloud platform for building, deploying, and managing web applications.

Main advantages:

• Support for a wide range of operating systems, programming languages, frameworks, and devices.
• The ability to quickly and easily create, manage and deploy applications.
• Easily detects and eliminates threats.
• The ability to store data in a fast and reliable environment, and share content between multiple virtual machines.
• Pay-as-you-go service that can be quickly configured to meet your business needs.

Data Science Tools

Data Studio

Google Data Studio is a tool for collaborating on data and transforming it into customizable dashboards and reports.

Main advantages:

• The ability to explore, prototype, build and deliver your data products.
• Visual data profiling at every step of the analysis.
• Ability to prepare, enrich, mix and clean data.
• The ability to create and optimize a model in Python or R and integrate it with any external machine learning library using the code API.

Source Control Tools

GitHub

GitHub is a service for hosting and collaborative project development. It provides handy tools for code review and effective project management.

Main advantages:

• Ability to store all code in one place.
• Ability to host documentation from repositories.
• Easy project management. The ability to coordinate, track and update your work so that projects are transparent and stay on schedule.
• Ability to configure access to packages.
• Tools for identifying and analyzing vulnerabilities in code.

Prototyping Tools

Figma

Figma is an online service for developing interfaces and prototyping mobile applications, websites, and corporate portals. There are also offline versions for Windows and macOS.

Main advantages:

• Collaboration in real-time.
• Integration with Slack corporate messenger and Framer prototyping tool.
• Ability to create and test prototypes.
• Provides developers with the necessary information to implement the design.
• The ability to write your plugins, connect with the broader user community, and extend the tool with new features using the Figma plugins API.

UML Tools

Lucidchart

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming application that lets you draw, edit, and share diagrams collaboratively.

Main advantages:

• Lucidchart runs in the browser and does not require the installation of plugins or third-party software.
• Ability to collaborate in real-time.
• Data is encrypted and also stored in secure data centers.
• SQL import and export capabilities.
• Ability to import from draw.io, Gliffy, OmniGraffle, and Microsoft Visio.
• The platform integrates with Google Workspace and Drive, Microsoft Teams, and other Office, Jira, and Confluence products from Atlassian, Salesforce, GitHub, Slack, and more.

How To Choose The Best Software Development Tools For Your Developers?

The best software development tools choose depends on the company’s goals and the project. Several factors could be considered when choosing tools for a particular project.

• The type of software development tool and its usefulness for the successful implementation of the project.
• Applicability to the environment.
• Compliance with company standards.
• Developers’ experience with the tool.
• Ability to integrate with other tools.
• The cost of software development tools.