Skip to content

For coders/developers

Updated August 3, 2025

Applications

These applications have been installed for you:

  • IntelliJ IDEA or IntelliJ IDEA CE — Ideal for Java development. If you would prefer to use a different IDE, please contact IT.
  • Github Desktop — You can use the git command as well.
  • Github CLI — A Github command line interface, gh.
  • openJDK — Open Java Development Kit is a free and open-source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE).
  • g++ (2) and Xcode command line tools (1).

  1. Xcode Command Line Tools are a collection of essential development tools provided by Apple for macOS. These tools are primarily used for command-line software development and are a subset of the larger Xcode integrated development environment (IDE).

    Purpose:

    They provide the necessary compilers (like Clang/LLVM), debuggers (like LLDB), and other utilities required for building, debugging, and managing software projects from the terminal. This includes tools for C, C++, Objective-C, Swift, and various scripting languages.

    Installation:

    They can be installed independently of the full Xcode application, offering a much smaller download size. The most common installation method is through the terminal using xcode-select --install. They are also often installed as a dependency when installing package managers like Homebrew.

    Included Tools:

    The package includes a wide range of utilities located in /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/, such as git, make, gcc (or its alias to Clang), clang, lldb, python, ruby, and many others.

    Necessity for Development:

    While the full Xcode IDE is essential for developing applications for Apple's platforms (iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, macOS with GUI), the Command Line Tools are crucial for general-purpose software development, especially for projects that don't require the full IDE or are built using command-line tools and scripts. They are widely used by web developers, open-source contributors, and anyone working with Unix-like tools on macOS.

  2. G++ is the C++ frontend for the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC). It is essentially the command-line interface used to compile C++ source code within the GCC framework. While GCC is a comprehensive suite of compilers supporting various programming languages (including C, Fortran, Go, and Ada), g++ specifically targets C++ compilation.

    When you use the g++ command, it handles the entire compilation process for C++ code, which typically involves:

    • Preprocessing: Handling directives like #include and #define.
    • Compilation: Translating C++ code into assembly language.
    • Assembly: Converting assembly code into machine code (object files).
    • Linking: Combining object files and libraries to create an executable program.

    g++ provides numerous options to control different stages of this process, optimize code, specify language standards (e.g., C++11, C++17, C++20), and link with external libraries. It is widely used as the de facto standard C++ compiler on Linux and other Unix-like systems.

It's possible other applications have been installed.

Fonts for coding

There are fonts suited for code installed already on this computer, please feel free to check which one fits you best. Here are a few examples:

If you would like supplemental fonts installed, please contact the IT Manager.