# Toolchain
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{{Short description|Software development tools used in sequence}}
A '''toolchain''' is a set of [software development tool](/source/software_development_tool)s used to [build](/source/software_build) and otherwise [develop](/source/software_development) [software](/source/software). Often, the tools are executed sequentially and form a [pipeline](/source/pipeline_(computing)) such that the output of one tool is the input for the next. Sometimes the term is used for a set of related tools that are not necessarily executed sequentially.[{{cite web
| url = http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/overview.html
| title = Toolchain Overview
| date = 2012-01-03 | accessdate = 2013-10-21
| website = nongnu.org
}}][{{cite web
| url = http://elinux.org/Toolchains
| title = Toolchains
| date = 2013-09-08 | accessdate = 2013-10-21
| website = elinux.org
}}][{{cite book
| title = Tool Chains in Agile ALM Environments: A Short Introduction
| date = 2015-10-29 | doi=10.1007/978-3-319-26138-6_40
| volume = 9416
| pages=371–380
| series = Lecture Notes in Computer Science
| last1 = Imran
| first1 = Saed
| last2 = Buchheit
| first2 = Martin
| last3 = Hollunder
| first3 = Bernhard
| last4 = Schreier
| first4 = Ulf
| isbn = 978-3-319-26137-9
}}]
A relatively common and simple toolchain consists of the tools to build for a particular [operating system](/source/operating_system) (OS) and [CPU](/source/Central_processing_unit) architecture: a [compiler](/source/compiler), a [linker](/source/Linker_(computing)), and a [debugger](/source/debugger). With a [cross-compiler](/source/cross-compiler), a toolchain can support [cross-platform](/source/cross-platform) development.
For building more complex software systems, many other tools may be in the toolchain. For example, for a [video game](/source/video_game), the toolchain may include tools for preparing [sound effect](/source/sound_effect)s, music, [texture](/source/Texture_(computer_graphics))s, [3-dimensional model](/source/3D_model)s and [animation](/source/animation)s, and for combining these resources into the finished product.