A programming language, which resembles C and Java. TADS is a powerful object-oriented language with high-level string and list datatypes and syntax specially designed to make adventure game object definitions concise and readable.

A compiler, which reads a set of source files written in the TADS programming language and produces a portable binary game file. Once you compile your game, you need only give players the compiled binary file; you don't need to distribute your source files to let people play your game. A compiled game file is completely portable - you can simply copy the file to any computer that has a TADS interpreter and run it.

A library, which provides a set of generic adventure game definitions. The library is written in the TADS language, so you can change it or even completely replace it if you want to go outside the usual conventions. The library provides a large set of object class definitions for the kinds of things that often appear in IF games, and you can use the library classes directly or use them as building blocks to create more customized object types.

An interpreter, which a player uses to run your game. TADS interpreters exist for many operating systems, and each version has been customized to conform to the look and feel of its operating system. Since the interpreter provides the human interface, and each interpreter is customized for its system, a TADS game automatically adopts the correct local look and feel for each system it runs on.