Programming Tools

Art of Assembly Language
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Author: Randy Hyde
“The Art of Assembly Language Programming (AoA), Randy Hyde’s acclaimed text on assembly language programming, is the most-often recommended book on 80×86 assembly language programming in newsgroups, on web sites, and by word of mouth.
“The Art of Assembly Language Programming is available in three editions: a 32-bit edition for Windows, a 32-bit edition for Linux, and a 16-bit edition for DOS. Most PC owners will want to read the Windows or Linux edition (depending upon which OS they use). Most readers should avoid the DOS edition since DOS is essentially obsolete at this point. Unless you’re taking a course or have a special need to write some DOS software, there is little reason to waste time learning about various DOS calls, segmentation, and other features that you’ll never use under Windows or Linux. The links below will take you directly to the web pages where you can find the version of AoA that’s right for you.”
Anchor Link Assembler Source Page
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Windows: All
Win32 and Win64 platforms
“If you are interested in 32-bit or 64-bit programming for Windows using assembler, you will find everything you need here including an Editor, Assembler, Resource Compiler, Linker, Symbolic Debugger, Help Compiler, Information, Sample code and demos and Links. Win32+assembler is becoming more and more popular. Here you can use a low level language (assembler) together with a very high level language (the Windows API) – a perfect combination!”
Anchor Link AutoIt
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Version: 3.3.6.1 – Released: 2010-04-16 Windows: All
File Size: 8 MB
“AutoIt is a simple tool that can simulate key presses, mouse movements and window commands (maximize, minimize, wait for, etc.) in order to automate any windows based task (or even windowed DOS tasks). It was primarily designed to assist in automatically installing software that cannot be automatically installed by other means. This is most useful during a PC rollout where hundreds or thousands of client machines need to be automatically installed. However, AutoIt is not limited to software installation and can be used to automate many simple or complex windows tasks like executing programs,sending keystrokes and mouse clicks, text clipboard functions, registry functions and more.”
Anchor Link C and C++ Compilers
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“Looking for a free C compiler or a free C++ compiler? This page lists numerous free C and C++ compilers, cross-compilers and interpreters for a wide variety of operating systems (including embedded systems).”
Anchor Link C# Programming
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“This is a site for those of you from the skill levels of beginner, to the advanced C# developer. This site has annotated C# resources for C# programmers; including links to courses, chats, C# articles, C# white papers, C# books, e-books, discussions, C# newsgroups, articles, C# whitepapers, products, C# tools, code examples, and the topic of C# and Web Services.”
Anchor Link CGI Programming 101
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface, which is a standard for external gateway programs to interface with information servers such as HTTP servers. CGI is not a program or a programming language. It is a collection of protocols (or rules) that allow Web clients to execute programs on a Web server and receive their output (if any).
“CGI programming is easy to learn; if you know HTML, you can learn CGI. You don’t need any prior programming experience. This class will introduce you to writing Perl CGI scripts, teach you the basics of writing CGI scripts, and walk you through several examples of common CGI programming applications for the Web.
“The first six chapters of CGI Programming 101 are available free here on this site. By working through them, you’ll learn how to write your own form-to-mail program, and how to read and write to data files. You should work through these in order, because each chapter builds on material you learned in the previous chapter. The first six chapters are also available as a printable PDF file.
“When you’re ready to go beyond these lessons, order the book ($29.95) and learn about databases, Perl modules, file uploading and more.”
Anchor Link Code Beach
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“Code Beach is your ultimate guide to free and open source code, tutorials, components, developer tools, and books for ASP, BREW, C++, C#, ColdFusion, Delphi/Kylix, HTML, J2ME, Java, JavaScript, Palm, Perl, PHP, Pocket PC, Python, Symbian, SQL, Visual Basic, and XML.”
Anchor Link Cygwin
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2013-04-23
Version: 1.7.18-1 Windows: All
File Size: 689 KB Both 32- and 64-bit compatible
“The Cygwin tools are ports of the popular GNU development tools for Microsoft Windows. They run thanks to the Cygwin library which provides the UNIX system calls and environment these programs expect. With these tools installed, it is possible to write Win32 console or GUI applications that make use of the standard Microsoft Win32 API and/or the Cygwin API. As a result, it is possible to easily port many significant Unix programs without the need for extensive changes to the source code. This includes configuring and building most of the available GNU software (including the packages included with the Cygwin development tools themselves). Even if the development tools are of little to no use to you, you may have interest in the many standard Unix utilities provided with the package. They can be used both from the bash shell (provided) or from the standard Windows command shell.
“Note that individual packages in the distribution are updated separately from the DLL so the Cygwin DLL version is not useful as a general Cygwin release number.”
Anchor Link Easy Code for MASM
License: Freeware – Source available Last Reviewed: 2011-05-07
Version: 1.06.0.0004 – Released: 2011-05-06 Windows: All
File Size: 1.91 MB
“Easy Code is the visual assembly programming environment made to build 32-bit Windows applications. The Easy Code interface, looking like Visual Basic, allows you to program a Windows assembler application done in an easy way as was never possible before. Download and test this application which is distributed with a setup program and includes the source code of a nice CD player, a complete and fast text editor in a dll file (to be able to program your own editor), a complete and excellent text editor ready to use, a file shredder, a MIDI player and many other applications. There are two available versions of Easy Code:
1. Masm version using the Microsoft Macro Assembler (distributed with Masm32 and GeneSys packages)
2. GoAsm version using the Jeremy Gordon’s Go tools (distributed with the ECGo package)”
Anchor Link File Format Collection
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“This site contains file format information on hundreds of different file types and all sorts of other useful programming information; algorithms, source code, specifications, etc. The search engine on this site is the simplest way to get to any information that you are looking for. If you have any useful programming documents or information, please Submit it so that other programmers can make use of it. Suggestions for improving this site are also welcome.”
Anchor Link Flowcharter
License: Shareware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Version: 6.24.2046 – Released: 2010-07-20 Windows: 9x, Me, NT, 2000, XP
File Size: 4.4 MB
“With WizFlow Flowcharter you can draw professional quality flowcharts and similar diagrams with the absolute minimum effort. In just minutes, you can create a flowchart to present ideas, document processes, design systems, or develop software. WizFlow does the hard part, you do the easy and fun parts. Flowcharting has never been easier.
“WizFlow is a tool for creating flowcharts and similar diagrams. It allows you to work with a single object or a group of objects, drawing boxes or symbols of many shapes and connecting them with lines of various types. You can enter explanatory text at any location, using a grid that helps you to keep your work symmetrical and aligned. WizFlow handles the hard parts of drawing a flowchart and leaves you free to focus on the layout and appearance. Wizflow contains extensive features such as full zoom, OLE connectivity for inserting charts in other documents, poster printing, graphics import and export, automatic routing, curves, flow symbols, and much more.”
Anchor Link FreeBASIC
License: GNU GPL – Open Source Last Reviewed: 2012-08-20
Version: 0.24.0 – Released: 2010-08-12 Windows: 9x, Me, NT, 2000, XP
File Size: 8.8 MB
“FreeBASIC—as the name suggests—is a completely free, open-source, 32-bit BASIC compiler, with the syntax the most compatible possible with MS-QuickBASIC, that adds new features such as pointers, unsigned data types, inline-assembly and many others.”
Anchor Link Free Developer Tools
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“This is a set of .NET, .COM and Win32 tools that Chris Sells has built and contributed to the world. You may use them without royalty (and without support) in your compiled code. You may not redistribute the source code. Enjoy!”
Anchor Link HEXwrite
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2013-03-17
Version: 1.0.7 – Released: 2007-05-19 Windows: All
File Size: 328 KB
“Plain and simple ASCII to HEX and vice-versa tool. Ideal for short HEX translations, nothing fancy intended. Options/Features: immediate conversion of keyboard input; ASCII to HEX and HEX to ASCII conversion modes; output can be copied to the Clipboard for further use.”
Anchor Link Inno Setup
License: Freeware – Donations appreciated Last Reviewed: 2013-01-31
Version: 5.5.3 – Released: 2013-01-30 Windows: All
File Size: 1.85 MB Both 32- and 64-bit compatible
“Inno Setup is a free installer for Windows programs. First introduced in 1997, Inno Setup today rivals and even surpasses many commercial installers in feature set and stability. Support for all 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions in use today. Full source code is available. It is completely free of charge, even for commercial use.
“Features include a wizard interface, creation of a single EXE for easy online distribution, support for disk spanning, full uninstall capabilities, customizable setup types, integrated file compression, support for installing shared files and OCX’s, and creation of Start Menu icons, INI entries, and registry entries.”
Anchor Link InnoIDE
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-06-06
Version: 1.0.0.0078 – Released: 2011-06-05 Windows: XP, Vista, 7
File Size: 1.8 MB
“InnoIDE is a brand new interface for generating Microsoft Windows installations using the free [InnoSetup] compiler from Jordan Russel.
“InnoIDE simplifies the generation of installations by allowing InnoSetup scripts to be created and edited in a purely graphical way without having to edit the script manually. Whether it’s a small freeware application you’ve created, or a large, complex application, InnoIDE can help you create the perfect installation to fit your requirements.
• Extremely intuitive user interface
• Support for the latest version of InnoSetup, both unicode and non-unicode
• Fully configurable syntax highlighting for Inno script and Pascal script
• #include files are automatically opened and can be edited directly
• Plus much more!”
Anchor Link JavaScript
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“The Definitive JavaScript Resource For JavaScript Tutorials and Free Java Scripts.”
Anchor Link JavaScript Collector
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Version: 1.1.04 – Released: 2006-09-30 Windows: 98, Me, 2000, XP
File Size: 602 KB
“JavaScript Collector is a database to store and preview Java scripts. It comes loaded with 200 ready-to-use scripts that are organized in various categories from special effects (mouse, background, text etc.), drop down menus, cookies, counters, form validation to games and more. The program allows you to configure 4 different browsers that you can use to preview the script output and then copy it into your HTML code. You can also add your own snippets to the database, and search the loaded scripts by keyword.”
Anchor Link MASM32 SDK
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2012-05-29
Version: 11 – Released: 2012-01-12 Windows: 2000, XP, Vista, 7
File Size: 4.77 MB
“The MASM32 SDK version 10 is a working development environment for programmers who are interested in either learning or writing 32 bit Microsoft assembler (MASM). The installation is an automated process that installs the correct directory tree structure on the local drive of your choice. Note that MASM32 will not install on a network drive. MASM32 comes with its own runtime library written fully in assembler and an extensive range of macros for improved high level emulation and faster development. It builds its own IMPORT libraries for the Windows API functions and supplies its own include files for a very large number of API functions.
“The default editor in MASM32 has been fully recoded from scratch in MASM and it is smaller, faster and more powerful with two (2) separate scripting engines, a legacy version to maintain backwards compatibility of existing scripts and a completely new one that is much faster and more powerful than its predecessor. New CHM documentation and a wider range of ‘Create New’ project types directly supported by the new script engine from the editor place a wider range of project types at your fingertips. There is also a new format PLUGIN system for the default editor as well as the old one for backwards compatibility.”
Anchor Link Online PAD Generator
License: Free Online Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
Version: 1.33
“Create your PAD files fast and easy with our online web based builder for free.
“Just fill in your company, program and other information. Then you can generate your PAD file within a second by just clicking the Generate PAD button.”
Anchor Link PERL
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“Short for Practical Extraction and Report Language, Perl is a programming language developed by Larry Wall, especially designed for processing text. Because of its strong text processing abilities, Perl has become one of the most popular languages for writing CGI scripts. Perl is an interpretive language, which makes it easy to build and test simple programs.
“This site provides links to: Downloads – Documentation – CPAN Mirror – FAQs – Training – Resources – Article Archive – Search.”
Anchor Link PHP
License: Free – Source Available Last Reviewed: 2013-05-09
Version: 5.4.15 – Released: 2013-05-09 Windows: All
File Size: 15.9 MB
“PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded into HTML. Much of its syntax is borrowed from C, Java and Perl with a couple of unique PHP-specific features thrown in. The goal of the language is to allow web developers to write dynamically generated pages quickly. It is a project of the Apache Software Foundation.”
Anchor Link Programmers’ Heaven
Information Only Last Reviewed: 2011-01-25
“Programmers’ Heaven – It’s all here! Choose from over 33,000 resources to explore. We have tried to collect all kinds of programming related files and links, and new ones are added every week. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced IT professional, this is where you will find everything you need!”
Anchor Link Python
License: Freeware – Open Source Last Reviewed: 2013-04-09
Version: 3.3.1 – Released: 2013-04-06 Windows: All
File Size: 19.2 MB Both 32- and 64-bit versions
“Welcome to the official website for the Python language. Python is an interpreted, interactive, object-oriented programming language. It is often compared to Tcl, Perl, Scheme or Java. Python combines remarkable power with very clear syntax. It has modules, classes, exceptions, very high level dynamic data types, and dynamic typing. There are interfaces to many system calls and libraries, as well as to various windowing systems (X11, Motif, Tk, Mac, MFC). New built-in modules are easily written in C or C++. Python is also usable as an extension language for applications that need a programmable interface.
“The Python implementation is portable: it runs on many brands of UNIX, on Windows, DOS, OS/2, Mac, Amiga… If your favorite system isn’t listed here, it may still be supported, if there’s a C compiler for it. Ask around on comp.lang.python — or just try compiling Python yourself. Python is copyrighted but freely usable and distributable, even for commercial use.”
Anchor Link SuperOrca
License: Freeware Last Reviewed: 2012-12-05
Version: 11.0.0.1 – Released: 2012-12-05
File Size: 2.79 MB
“SuperOrca from Pantaray Research Ltd. is a direct replacement to the Orca MSI Editor from Microsoft. SuperOrca may be used to examine and modify an MSI database. SuperOrca highlights:
• SuperOrca – is a free software.
• SuperOrca – can be easily downloaded from the internet, no need to download and install the entire Microsoft SDK.
• SuperOrca – will allow you to scan and manipulate all MSI database tables in an intuitive and user friendly manner.
• SuperOrca – will not lock the MSI file you are working on, so you can test it with other tools or even install it while the file is still opened in SuperOrca.
• SuperOrca – features a powerful ‘Compare’ function that will compare two MSI files, and display any differences in a clear and meaningfull way.
• SuperOrca – features a powerfull ‘Search All’ function that will search a text literal across all database tables in one operation.
• SuperOrca – version 1.X is distributed free of charge to the software development and IT comunity.”
Anchor Link UPX
License: GNU GPL – Open Source Last Reviewed: 2013-02-18
Version: 3.09 – Released: 2013-02-18 Console and DOS versions
File Size: 346 KB
“UPX is a free, portable, extendable, high-performance executable packer for several different executable formats. It achieves an excellent compression ratio and offers very fast decompression. Your executables suffer no memory overhead or other drawbacks.
“UPX is copyrighted software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, with special exceptions granting the free usage for commercial programs as stated in the UPX License Agreement.”