The main reason that I am able to do without IDEs most of the time, is that it is uncommon for me to use debuggers anymore. For the most part I use assertions.

The main reason that I am able to do without IDEs most of the time, is that it is uncommon for me to use debuggers anymore. For the most part I use assertions. Quite commonly all I require is to assert the validity of input parameters to subroutines. Less commonly I do that for return values. Uncommonly I use insertions somewhere in the middle. Very rarely - but sometimes - I use class invariants. That is, a circle class has an invariant that its radius is fixed all the way around; that's not the case for ellipses. However when I do use class invariants, they are very helpful. I also use memory debuggers like guard malloc and valgrind. It's not that I don't use step-through debuggers at all, but with all the above it is uncommon that I feel the need to.