Xcode is a great addition for those who are looking for a reliable tool for creating applications for Mac OS as well as the iOS for iPhones and iPad. Xcode was first released in 2003, but since then, the application has definitely come a long way in providing efficient development platforms to developers. The design and functionality of this application is definitely appreciable. As the years have gone by, they have even included testing, debugging and coding facilities, all in the same window. The debugging feature needs a special mention as it has improved the most over the years. The Xcode IDE can easily analyze the project made by the user and even identify the mistakes or issues that can arise because of an incorrect logic or syntax. In some case, the Xcode IDE is even known to fix the cases, which would definitely help the user go a long way with their development projects.

The core of the application is an Interface Builder. All the projects by the user are designed on this core facility only. There is an Assistant that shows exactly which part of the code is being edited, which can be the controller, the header or even the superclass. Then, there is a Version Editor which shows a live source code. These source code comparisons are made by the subversion history or through Git. Once the code has been written, the Live Issues display can be used to find out the errors in the code. There are some errors that can be mended with the help of Fix-It, a kind of auto-correct function for the wrong codes. The debugging engine used in the application is LLDB, which is used in association with the LLVM complier by Apple. The newest versions support Objective-C, C and C++ for coding in full. The OpenGL ES is also included along with a new System Trace feature.

The Xcode used to work only on Lion but there are some new SDKs available for iOS 7, OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, and OS X 10.9 Mavericks as well. This helps in making sure that the developers gain more control and make more compatible apps. However, if someone wanted to submit an app to the App Store for iOS or Mac, they would have to become a member of the iOS developer program or the Mac developer program.