When it comes to Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) 30 years ago, plain text mode was all the rage. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, IDEs on DOS operating systems were based on text user interfaces (TUI) . Although these IDEs do not have a graphical interface, they provide some impressive features that allow programmers to code, compile and debug their programs.
For example, the editor EDIT.COM that comes with MS-DOS. This is a full-screen TUI editor that provides menu bar, dialog box, status bar and other functions. While not very suitable for coding, it shows the state of the art at the time.
Another classic IDE is the Borland Turbo series, such as Turbo C++. These IDEs offer syntax highlighting, compiler integration, debuggers, project management, and even complete reference manuals. These features were very advanced for the time and allowed programmers to complete the entire development process without the Internet.
(Syntax highlighting)
(Integrated compiler and diagnostics)
(Integrated project and build system management)
(Debugger including breakpoints, stack traces, and more)
(Full User Manual)
Some people said that the IDE produced by Bordland at the time was indeed amazing, but after using Bordland Turbo C++ for a period of time, their eyes were blinded...
At the same time, IDEs on Linux are not as mature as those on DOS. Although there are some text mode programs, such as Vim and Emacs, they do not provide a complete integrated development environment like the Borland Turbo series. This resulted in many programmers at that time still preferring to use IDEs on DOS for development.
