What is XCode?*

1. Xcode is the engine that powers Apple’s integrated development environment (IDE) for Mac OS X and iOS. It is also an application that takes care of most project details from inception to deployment. It allows you to:

•               Create and manage projects, including specifying platforms, target requirements, dependencies, and build configurations.

•               Write source code in editors with features such as syntax coloring and automatic indenting.

•               Navigate and search through the components of a project, including header files and documentation.

•               Build the project.

•               Debug the project locally, in iOS Simulator, or remotely, in a graphical source-level debugger.

It is tightly integrated with Cocoa and Cocoa Touch Frameworks creating a powerful and easy-to-use powerful set of tools for iOS and Mac OS development.

It contains XCode IDE, interface builder tool and Apple LLVM compiler fully integrated. It has the IOS simulator, instruments, iOS SDKs and more...

* All of this is from Apple documentation but put together so that it acts like a starter kit