Previous sections have demonstrated that, in order to produce a C++ program, at least some kind of text editor and compiler are required. Generally, a full development environment (IDE) is readily available nowadays, and three options have been provided, two of which are free to download and use. This chapter explores some basic functions of these IDEs more thoroughly, but the rest of this book is neutral to an IDE. In other words, I refer to C++ in terms of the language itself, as opposed to any specific IDE that is being used.