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I use the Arduino IDE to 'build' everything.

However, in case of a bigger project, I use a 'decent' code editor (Visual Studio in my case) to edit, and the Arduino IDE to build.

Also, because I prefer testing all non-Arduino related code on the PC (not on the Arduino), the Visual Studio (C++) project uses some stub classes I created (specifically for my project), and I can run the application on my PC.

When some part is finished, I can build the same code in Arduino IDE, but without the stubs (because these are acquired from Arduino.h and related Arduino files).

What IDE is best to 'edit' code is very subjective I think. But in the above way I can see many classes/files at a glance on the left side (and not in the top like Arduino IDE where only like 5 tabs fit on a screen), and to test lots of code on the PC already before sending it to an Arduino.

The GitHub repository can be found here: https://github.com/michelkeijzers/Mestra

Project inside is DmxLightShow.