Many computer vision problems can be solved by using a library of image processing algorithms in combination with simple control structures [1-5]. Examples for this class of problems are chip inspection, counting and measuring objects, and quality assessment. Many industrial vision tasks fall into this category of programs. In this domain it is essential that new applications can be developed in the shortest possible time. Also, for complex applications like aerial image interpretation or active vision, rapid prototyping is a very convenient option as a first step towards the solution. This motivates us to propose an integrated programming environment that fulfills the needs for state of the art program development. This environment is based on the HALCON image processing library which implements the operators in combination with a knowledge base containing various informations about the operators. Based on the library an interactive tool for program development called HDevelop is presented which makes use of this knowledge to help the user to rapidly implement a broad range of vision tasks.