Any time you replace a component in a tightly-integrated system there can be disappointments. Nevertheless, familiarity with the replacement tool can make the substitution worthwhile to a development team. Because the project manager makes up the core of the IDE, it can't be replaced. Nevertheless, the architecture does permit substitutions for other parts, although with reduced integration in some cases. Components that can be replaced include the editor, search engine, source code browser, compiler and linker, or debugger.
Engineers defend their choice of source code editor with evangelical fervor.
This comes as no surprise, since they spend most of their time writing code. In recognition of this, the IDE does provide support for third-party editors. An engineer can write code in any editor that saves information as plain text, and CodeWarrior will compile and build the code. However, the CodeWarrior editor cannot be fully replaced. An engineer may also use a third-party search engine or source code browser as external tools.