Xcode is the development environment for Apple operating systems such as OS X, iOS, WatchOS and tvOS.
The integrated development environment (IDE) contains a suite of software development tools, supporting source code for programming languages such as C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, Java, AppleScript, Python, Ruby, ResEdit (Rez), and Swift.
App developers can build and edit applications and work with them from their initial idea to ultimately releasing it to the App Store.
Xcode was first released in 2003. Apple releases regular updates to the suite as it continues to roll out upgrades to its own software.
It is available through the App Store. Registered developers can also go to the Apple Developer website and download preview releases and prior versions.
There are some alternatives to Xcode, such as Xamarin Developer for iOS or Appcode. However, these are not released by Apple.
Android, another popular operating system for mobile, has its own IDEs. Like Apple it also has several different IDEs created by third parties.
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