If I am the main developer on a three year project, I use whatever editor, command-line tools and custom scripts I need to get the job done. The whole project,

If I am the main developer on a three year project, I use whatever editor, command-line tools and custom scripts I need to get the job done. The whole project, from code to ops, architecture, security and documentation, is in my head. However, if I'm thrown in half-finished projects as consultant, the tooling in IDEs can help me to get a grasp on what needs to get done without necessarily having to construct the whole map inside my head. Whether this approach leads to better code is highly dubious, but one doesn't always get to pick outside factors. These are just tools, each with their own purpose, benefits and weak points. The main criticisms of IDEs seem based on a certain type of developer that does not know the world outside of their favourite IDE and programming language, which of course is not a problem of the tool itself.