3. Code Development Tools

Code development consists of mainly Programming languages, Debugging tools, Version Management tools, Compiling tools, and Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) where all the above are coupled as a single software application.

3.1. Programming Languages

Links are provided to various compilers used in Scientific Computing like FORTRAN, C, C++, Java and more recently Python.

3.2. Debugging Tools

In this section links are given to mainly debugging tools for GCC and FORTRAN. I understand that python has a debugging module built in though I have not used it. The purpose of a debugger is to allow you to see what is going on inside a program while it executes or what the program was doing when/if it crashed.

3.3. Version Control Tools

It will be worth your while investing some time in learning to use one of the version control tools below (cvs is what I use ..) if you are into any serious code development.

3.4. Integrated Development Environments

Integrated development environments (IDEs) can be very useful for building code and ideally come with all the above tools (i.e a compiler, a debugger and a version control tool). In addition to that IDEs also usually provide a makefile generator, documenting help, online help manuals, etc.