The Nylon programming environment is the development hub of the Nylon system. It brings together the written code, software simulations, and i.o board. Code can be written and interpreted in the environment, where it is run in a simulation mode. Once a user is satisfied with the behavior of their code, they can attach their i.o board to a serial port and upload their code to it with the click of a button.

The programming environment contains a text editing space to write code, a simulation space where the input and output pins of the board are simulated, and the ability to add and remove displays so that graphics code can be simulated on the computer screen as it would appear on a Hotpants display. Pausing, resuming, and debugging capabilties exist in the Nylon environment, and other features such as stepping will soon be added.