Programming software you'll need

There are a lot of tools to make your own programs.
First of all, choose your programming language, and then search for the best software for your needs.
My favorite is without any doubt the Netbeans IDE (for Java, PHP, C/C++ and more). The huge range of operating systems supported, and the good amount of plugins that you can install on it, make it one of the best. Some features of this software, make you program more code, in less time.
For Java and C, Eclipse is another good choice. This IDE is lighter than Netbeans, but good enough for most programming needs.
Another IDE a little old but still good for C/C++ language, is DevC++.

Microsoft also has a lot of tools for programmers. Visual Studio is a full box of content for Microsoft oriented programmers. Some students, can get this software and more for free in Dreamspark, if their school is certified by MS.

Notepad++ is a free code source editor, (not a compiler), that supports a huge amount of languages (almost all). If you know more than one programming language, you have to install this.