View source for KDevelop

{{Short description|Integrated development environment}}
{{Primary sources|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox software
| name                  = KDevelop
| title                 = KDevelop
| logo                  = Breezeicons-apps-48-kdevelop.svg
| screenshot            = Kdevelop--breeze dark theme.png
| developer             = [[KDE]]
| released              = {{Start date and age|1999|12|06}}<ref>{{cite web
  | url          = http://www.kdevelop.org/index.htmlfilename=main1999.html
  | archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20030621132836/http://www.kdevelop.org/index.html?filename=main1999.html
  | archive-date = 2003-06-21
  | title        = KDevelop – News of 1999
  | publisher    = [[KDE]]
  | date         = 1999-12-06
  | access-date  = 2012-12-27
  }}</ref>
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|Q468841|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q468841|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}}}
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| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|edit|reference|Q468841|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{start date and age|{{wikidata|qualifier|Q468841|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}}}
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| discontinued           = 
| programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]]
| operating system       = [[Linux]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[macOS]] (preview, no official pre-built installer)
| size                   = 
| genre                  = [[Integrated development environment]]
| license                = [[GNU General Public License|GPL-2.0-or-later]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdevelop/-/blob/master/org.kde.kdevelop.appdata.xml|title=org.kde.kdevelop.appdata.xml|date=15 March 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  | url     = https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdevelop/-/blob/master/COPYING
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200704222133/https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdevelop/-/blob/master/COPYING
  | url-status = dead
  | archive-date = 2020-07-04
  | title     = COPYING · rKDEVELOP
  | website     = invent.kde.org
  }}</ref>
}}

'''KDevelop''' is a [[Free and open-source software|free and open-source]] [[integrated development environment]] (IDE) for [[Unix-like]] computer [[operating system]]s and [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]. It provides [[Source code editor|editing]], navigation and [[debugging]] features for several [[programming language]]s, and integration with [[Build system|build automation]] and [[Version control|version-control systems]], using a [[Plug-in (computing)|plugin]]-based architecture.<ref>{{cite web
 | url         = https://www.kdevelop.org/
 | title       = A cross-platform IDE for C, C++, Python, JavaScript and PHP
 | publisher   = KDevelop
 | website     = www.kdevelop.org
 | access-date = 2017-01-17}}</ref>

KDevelop 5 has [[Parsing|parser]] backends for [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[Objective-C]], [[OpenCL]] and [[JavaScript]]/[[QML]], with plugins supporting [[PHP]], [[Python 3]] and [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web
 | url         = http://kfunk.org/2016/08/23/whats-new-in-kdevelop-5-0/
 | title       = What's new in KDevelop 5.0?
 | date        = 2016-08-23
 | website     = Personal Blog of Kevin Funk
 | access-date = 2017-01-17}}</ref> Basic [[syntax highlighting]] and [[code folding]] are available for dozens of other [[Source code|source-code]] and [[Markup language|markup]] formats, but without [[Semantic analysis (compilers)|semantic analysis]].

KDevelop is part of the [[KDE]] project, and is based on [[KDE Frameworks]] and Qt. The C/C++ backend uses [[Clang]] to provide accurate information even for very complex codebases.

==History==
KDevelop 0.1 was released in 1998,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-announce&amp;m=90648146015087&amp;w=2|title=ANNOUNCE: kdevelop-0.1.tar.gz|date=1998-09-22|publisher=KDE|access-date=2013-09-22}}</ref> with 1.0 following in late 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://tech.slashdot.org/story/99/12/06/0252212/kdevelop-10-released|title=Kdevelop 1.0 released - Slashdot|website=tech.slashdot.org|date=6 December 1999 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref> 1.x and 2.x were developed over a period of four years from the original codebase.

It is believed that Sandy Meier originated KDevelop. Ralf Nolden is also known to be an early developer of the project. In 1998 Sandy Meier started KDevelop and worked 8 weeks alone on this project. Since then, the KDevelop IDE is publicly available under the GPL and supports many programming languages.

Bernd Gehrmann started a complete [[rewrite (programming)|rewrite]] and announced KDevelop 3.x in March 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lists.kde.org/?l=kde-core-devel&amp;m=98598814600661&amp;w=2 |title=A new IDE for a new millennium |publisher=KDE |date=2001-03-30 |access-date=2013-09-22}}</ref> Its first release was together with [[K Desktop Environment 3.2]] in February 2004, and development of KDevelop 3.x continued until 2008.

KDevelop 4.x, another complete rewrite with a more object-oriented programming model,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apaku.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/kdevelop4-moved/|title=KDevelop4 moved|date=29 November 2009 |access-date=29 November 2009}}</ref> was developed from August 2005 and released as KDevelop 4.0.0 in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apaku.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/finally-kdevelop-4-0-final-published/|title=Finally KDevelop 4.0 final published|date=1 May 2010|access-date=2010-05-01}}</ref> The last feature update of this branch was version 4.7.0 in September 2014,<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.kdevelop.org/news/kdevelop-470-released|title = KDevelop 4.7.0 Released| date=13 September 2014 }}</ref> with bugfix releases continuing until KDevelop 4.7.4 in December 2016<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kdevelop.org/news/kdevelop-474-released|title=KDevelop 4.7.4 released|publisher=KDevelop|website=www.kdevelop.org|date=13 December 2016 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref>

KDevelop 5 development began in August 2014 as a continuation of the 4.x codebase, ported to Qt5 and KDE Frameworks 5.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.kdevelop.org/frameworks/kdevelop-master-now-depends-kde-frameworks-5|title = KDevelop master now depends on KDE Frameworks 5!| date=27 August 2014 }}</ref> The custom C++ parser used in earlier versions, which had poor support for C++11 syntax, was replaced by a new Clang-based backend. The integrated [[CMake|CMakeFile]] interpreter was also removed in favour of [[JSON]] [[metadata]] produced by the upstream CMake tool.

Semantic language support was added for QML and JavaScript, using the parser from [[Qt Creator]], alongside a new [[Qmake|QMake]] project-manager backend.<ref name=":0" />

The first stable 5.x release was KDevelop 5.0.0 in August 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kdevelop.org/news/kdevelop-500-released|title=KDevelop 5.0.0 release|publisher=KDevelop|website=www.kdevelop.org|date=23 August 2016 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref> In October 2016, official Microsoft Windows builds were released for the first time.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kdevelop.org/news/kdevelop-501-windows-released|title=KDevelop for Windows: Official 5.0.1 beta installer available now|publisher=KDevelop|website=www.kdevelop.org|date=9 October 2016 |access-date=2017-01-17}}</ref>

==Features==
KDevelop uses an embedded [[text editor]] component through the [[KParts]] framework. The default editor is [[Kate (text editor)|KDE Advanced Text Editor]], which can optionally be replaced with a [[Qt (framework)|Qt]] Designer-based editor. This list focuses on the features of KDevelop itself. For features specific to the editor component, see the article on [[Kate (text editor)|Kate]].

* [[Source code editor]] with [[syntax highlighting]] and automatic [[Indent style|indentation]] (Kate).
* C/C++ language is now supported with a Clang's backend (as of KDevelop-5.0)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kdevelop.org/news/kdevelop-500-released|title=KDevelop 5.0.0 release {{!}} KDevelop|website=www.kdevelop.org|date=23 August 2016 |access-date=2018-12-10}}</ref>
* Project management for different project types, such as [[Automake]], [[CMake]], ''qmake'' for [[Qt (toolkit)|Qt]] based projects and [[Apache Ant|Ant]] for [[Java (programming language)|Java]] based projects.
* Class browser.
* [[GUI designer]]
* [[Front and back ends|Front-end]] for the [[GNU Compiler Collection]] and [[GNU Debugger]].
* [[Wizard (software)|Wizards]] to generate and update [[class (computer science)|class]] definitions and application [[software framework|framework]].
* Automatic [[code completion]] ([[C (programming language)|C]]/[[C++]]).
* Built-in [[Doxygen]] support.
* [[Revision control]] (also known as SCM) support. Supported systems include [[Concurrent Versions System|CVS]], [[Subversion (software)|Subversion]], [[Perforce]], [[Rational ClearCase|ClearCase]], [[Git (software)|Git]], [[Mercurial]], and [[Bazaar (software)|Bazaar]]

KDevelop 4 is a completely [[Plug-in (computing)|plugin]]-based architecture. When a developer makes a change, they only must [[compiler|compile]] the plugin. There is a possibility to keep several profiles each of which determines which plugins to be loaded. KDevelop does not come with a text editor, but instead uses a plugin for this purpose as well. KDevelop is programming language independent and build system-independent, supporting [[KDE]], [[GNOME]], and many other technologies such as [[Qt (toolkit)|Qt]], [[GTK+]], and [[wxWidgets]].

KDevelop has supported a variety of [[programming language]]s, including [[C (programming language)|C]], [[C++]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], [[PHP]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[Fortran]], [[Ruby (programming language)|Ruby]], [[Ada (programming language)|Ada]], [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], [[SQL]], and [[Bash (Unix shell)|Bash]] scripting. Supported build systems include GNU (automake), cmake, qmake, and make for custom projects (KDevelop does not destroy user [[Makefile]]s if they are used) and scripting projects which don't need one.

''Code completion'' is available for [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]]. Symbols are kept in a [[Berkeley DB]] file for quick lookups without re-parsing. KDevelop also offers a developer framework which helps to write new parsers for other programming languages.

An integrated [[debugger]] allows graphically doing all debugging with [[breakpoint]]s and [[Stack trace|backtraces]]. It even works with dynamically loaded plugins unlike [[command line]] [[GDB]].

''Quick Open'' allows quick navigation between files.

Currently, around 50 to 100 plugins exist for this [[integrated development environment|IDE]].  Major ones include persistent project-wide code [[Internet bookmark|bookmarks]], ''Code abbreviations'' which allow expanding text quickly, a ''Source formatter'' which reformats code to a ''style guide'' before saving, ''Regular expressions search'', and project-wide ''search/replace'' which helps in [[refactoring]] code.

==See also==
{{Portal|Free and open-source software}}
* [[Comparison of integrated development environments]]
* [[List of KDE applications]]
* [[Qt Creator]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}
* Repositories:
** KDevelop: [https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdevelop GitLab], [https://cgit.kde.org/kdevelop.git/ cgit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320192834/https://cgit.kde.org/kdevelop.git/ |date=2019-03-20 }} and [https://github.com/KDE/kdevelop GitHub (mirror)]
** [https://linuxfoss.com/install-spotify-on-ubuntu/ Install KDevelop on Ubuntu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230718181008/https://linuxfoss.com/install-spotify-on-ubuntu/ |date=2023-07-18 }}
** KTextEditor framework: [https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/ktexteditor GitLab], [https://cgit.kde.org/ktexteditor.git/ cgit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190202031042/https://cgit.kde.org/ktexteditor.git/ |date=2019-02-02 }} and [https://github.com/KDE/ktexteditor GitHub (mirror)]
** KSyntaxHighlighting framework: [https://invent.kde.org/frameworks/syntax-highlighting GitLab], [https://cgit.kde.org/syntax-highlighting.git/ cgit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131013227/https://cgit.kde.org/syntax-highlighting.git/ |date=2019-01-31 }} and [https://github.com/KDE/syntax-highlighting GitHub (mirror)]
* Bug tracking: in [https://bugs.kde.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=kdevelop KDevelop], in [https://bugs.kde.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=frameworks-ktexteditor KTextEditor framework] and in [https://bugs.kde.org/describecomponents.cgi?product=frameworks-syntax-highlighting KSyntaxHighlighting framework]

{{Integrated development environments}}
{{KDE}}
{{GUI builders}}

[[Category:User interface builders]]
[[Category:1999 software]]
[[Category:Free integrated development environments]]
[[Category:Java development tools]]
[[Category:KDE Applications]]
[[Category:Linux integrated development environments]]
[[Category:Software using the GNU General Public License]]