Authors : Marlinawati Djasmir, Sufian Idris, Marini Abu Bakar and Abdullah Mohd Zin
Abstract: Block Based Software Development is a software development approach that supports end-user software development. In this approach, end-users can develop applications by selecting, customizing and combining software blocks. In the current implementation, a block is developed by using the Java programming language and is packaged as a JAR file which may consists of the following files: the class files, text and html files, images, audio and video clips, configuration data and any other files required for the block to operate. In order to help block developers to develop software blocks, a special purpose Integrated Development Environment (IDE) need to be provided. This special purpose IDE can help to improve the quality of blocks, reduce cost and time and hence increase the productivity of programmers. In this study, researchers describe the design and development of this special purpose IDE. The study is done in three phases. During the first phase, requirement analysis process was carried out by analysing existing IDEs, especially those related to components development. Based on this requirement, the IDE is designed and implement. The last phase includes an evaluation process to determine the effectiveness of the software tool.
Marlinawati Djasmir, Sufian Idris, Marini Abu Bakar and Abdullah Mohd Zin, 2012. An Integrated Development Environment for Blocks Creation. Asian Journal of Information Technology, 11: 194-200.