Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

interactive development environment
     
         (IDE, integrated development environment)
        A system for supporting the process of writing software.  Such
        a system may include a {syntax-directed editor}, graphical
        tools for program entry, and integrated support for compiling
        and running the program and relating compilation errors back
        to the {source}.
     
        Such systems are typically both interactive and integrated,
        hence the ambiguous acronym.  They are interactive in that the
        developer can view and alter the execution of the program at
        the level of statements and variables.  They are integrated in
        that, partly to support the above interaction, the source code
        editor and the execution environment are tightly coupled,
        e.g. allowing the developer to see which line of source code
        is about to be executed and the current values of any
        variables it refers to.
     
        Examples include {Visual C++} and {Visual Basic}.
     
        (2002-09-21)