Your Software Engineering Student Toolkit
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Editors, version control, testing, databases, APIs and containers for software engineering students.
Who this toolkit is for
For software engineering students working on individual and team projects.
Choose any modules to see the tools for them. Without a module, module tools appear under Specialist / Optional.
Showing tools for every device. Choose your computer to see only compatible software and verified install commands.
Essential (5)
Core tools that are broadly useful.
Code Editor / IDE
Why you may need this: A flexible code editor for programming assignments, scripting and web modules.
Visit Official Website
Programming Languages
PythonOpen Source
Why you may need this: A common first language, used across programming, data and AI modules.
Visit Official Website
Version Control
GitOpen Source
Why you may need this: Track changes to your code and submit work through Git-based workflows.
Visit Official Website
Research / Citation
ZoteroOpen SourceAlso on iPhone/iPad
Why you may need this: Organise research sources and generate citations for coursework and dissertations.
Visit Official Website
Office / Documents
LibreOfficeOpen Source
Why you may need this: A free office suite for essays, spreadsheets and presentations.
Visit Official Website
Recommended (5)
Useful for particular parts of the work or course.
Terminal
Windows TerminalOpen Source
Why you may need this: A modern terminal for running programs and scripts on Windows.
Visit Official Website
Database
- DBeaver Community
Open Source
Why you may need this: Work with project databases.
Visit Official Website
API Development
BrunoOpen Source
Why you may need this: Test the APIs you build.
Visit Official Website
Containers
Docker DesktopFreemium
Why you may need this: Run services and reproducible environments.
Visit Official Website
Documentation
draw.io DesktopOpen Source
Why you may need this: Draw UML and architecture diagrams.
Visit Official Website
Specialist / Optional · Show specialist tools (2)
Consider these for particular modules, tasks or environments.
Project Collaboration
- GitHub Desktop
Open Source
Why you may need this: A visual Git client for team projects.
Visit Official Website
Testing
- Node.js
Open Source
Why you may need this: Run JavaScript test tooling.
For the Testing module
Visit Official Website
Course requirements vary. Software requirements differ between schools, colleges, universities and modules. Check your course materials before purchasing software.
Build your student setup
Build My Setup lets you add or remove apps, see why each is included and, where verified packages exist, get one install command. Nothing is installed automatically.