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Top 6 Raspberry Pi IDEs for Programmers, Coders and Beginners

Raspberry Pi is growing more popular these days for a variety of reasons that you should be aware of. While the Raspberry Pi was created with the intention of teaching basic computer literacy, it has subsequently gained a large following from a variety of fields due to its numerous advantages.The article discusses the top IDEs for Raspberry Pi, including Geany, BlueJ Thonny, Arduino IDE, CodeBlocks, and others. There are a lot of IDEs out there, and some of them come with the suggested software bundle. I’ll show you how to use the best IDE for coding in whatever language you want.

Raspberry Pi as a Programming Device

Raspberry Pi is powered by Raspberry Pi OS, which has its own operating system (formerly Raspbian). The Raspberry Pi Foundation has created a Debian-based 32-bit Linux distribution. Its main programming languages are Python and Scratch, both of which come pre-installed on the machine. Other programming languages are also supported, allowing you to write programmes or scripts in your favourite programming language.

However, in order to create applications/programs on the Raspberry Pi, you’ll need a place to write and test your code. If you prefer text editors, you can install one of your favourites and begin coding immediately. If you want a more thorough experience, you’ll need an IDE.

What Is an IDE?

An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a type of software that has all of the necessary features to make software development easier. An IDE contains a source code editor, a compiler or interpreter and a debugger, which the developer can access via a graphical user interface (GUI). One of the primary goals of an IDE is to reduce the amount of configuration required to put together multiple development utilities and deliver the same set of capabilities as a single entity.

The user interface of an IDE is similar to that of a word processor, with color-coding, source code formatting, error diagnostics, reporting, and intelligent code completion capabilities in the toolbar. Third-party version control libraries, such as GitHub or Apache Subversion, are meant to connect with IDEs. Some IDEs are dedicated to a single programming language and offer a feature set that is specific to that language, while others support numerous languages. Noe let us discuss about some of the popular IDE used in Raspberry Pi.

  • Thonny

Thonny is the perfect Python Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that was especially designed if you want to code in Python. It’s easy to use and comes with Python 3.7 built-in. If you’re new to Python and want to create a basic program with it, Thonny offers a clean, vanilla interface. This helps to ensure that you don’t get bogged down with all the fancy features — like the ones found on most IDEs — and focus on getting your code right. Similar to other IDEs, Thonny also supports plugins so that you can get more functionalities onboard.

Thonny includes a debugger as part of its IDE package to assist you in detecting and correcting issues in your code. Expression evaluation, scope explanation, syntax highlighting, and code completion are just a few of the tools that make coding easier and more enjoyable.Thonny IDE comes pre-installed with the Raspberry Pi OS desktop version. If you’re running any other version of Pi OS, you can install it with

sudo apt install thonny
  • Code::Blocks

It is a popular Raspberry Pi cross-platform IDE. It supports the programming languages C, C++, and Fortran, as well as a variety of compilers such as GCC, Clang, and Visual C++. Because it’s a full-fledged IDE, it has a built-in compiler and debugger to make the app development process easier. You also receive a powerful code editor with features like syntax highlighting, code completion, and more when you utilise Code::Blocks.

In addition to standard IDE capabilities, Code::Blocks includes a robust code editor with syntax highlighting, code completion, a class browser, and a HEX editor. It also comes with a large plugin library, so you can locate plugins for missing features on the IDE to help you improve your productivity.

To install Code::Blocks IDE, enter the following command in the Terminal:

sudo apt install codeblocks
  •  Geany

It’s a powerful and portable IDE for Raspberry Pi. It’s basically a text editor with support for the GTK+ plugin and the Scintilla library, which may be used to develop code in over 50 languages. In terms of features, Geany has all of the main IDE capabilities, such as syntax highlighting, code folding, and auto-closing HTML and XML tags. It also includes native code navigation to make it easier to read and understand code. Plugins can also be used to increase the platform’s functionality if necessary.

Geany should come preinstalled in Raspberry Pi OS. If not, or you’re using a different distro, install Geany in the Terminal with

sudo apt install geany
  • . BlueJ

Although it was created as an educational tool, it is now a well-known IDE for those who have begun working with the Java programming language. BlueJ is a simple to use IDE that is ideal for SBCs like the Raspberry Pi. It allows you to integrate Java code straight into your programme without having to compile it beforehand.Despite its simplicity, BlueJ is packed with features, including scope highlighting, balanced brackets checking, and full object inspection, all of which help you debug your code more effectively.

To install BlueJ, type the following command in the Terminal:

sudo apt install bluej
  • Lazarus IDE

It’s a popular cross-platform IDE for developing applications quickly (RAD). It makes use of the Free Pascal Compiler (FPC), which lets you write code for a variety of systems. One of the biggest advantages of using FPC is that it can enable you create apps on one platform and then build and run them on other FPC-compatible systems. The IDE also supports a number of components with important functionality like code completion, syntax highlighting, and code formatting, among others.

Apart from the benefits of FPC, Lazarus IDE also includes support for many components (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and so on), as well as code completion, syntax highlighting, code formatting, and code templates. You also get context-sensitive help, which provides you with specific references and recommendations to help you fix problems in your code.

You can install Lazarus IDE with the following command:

sudo apt install lazarus-ide
  • Arduino IDE

The Arduino Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a cross-platform application written in C and C++ functions for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It’s used to write and upload programmes to Arduino-compatible boards, as well as other vendor development boards with the support of third-party cores.

The GNU General Public License, version 2 is used to licence the IDE’s source code. The Arduino IDE uses the avrdude programme to convert executable code into a text file in hexadecimal encoding, which is then loaded into the Arduino board’s firmware via a loader programme. Avrdude is the uploading tool by default for flashing user code onto official Arduino boards.

CONCLUSION:

I hope you find this article informative. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for additions. We will be back soon with more informative blogs

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