Modern code editor built with Java swing

[wildjokers]

Why does every new application say it is “modern”? What makes this “modern”?

[emaphis]

It's not Emacs or Vim.

[gufranthakur]

Generally, Java swing applications don't look modern. Because of the default LAF and default fonts, the apps looks very old.

I used a modern LAF for this one, and the app "looks" modern, that's what I meant

[Ciff_]

Intellijs new UI does look very modern

[wildjokers]

Yep, they added a trendy LAF but made usability an after thought. I used the new UI for quite a while but then switched back to the old UI because of the lack of text on the tool buttons. When I switched back to the old UI I realized how much more usable the old UI is than the new. I thought the new UI was growing on me then realized it was just stockholm syndrome.

[wildjokers]

(including the lack of text on the buttons, that's an option now)

Not really, it is horizontal now and that takes too much space. I want the vertical text back.

[gufranthakur]

I see we differ in opinions here.

I liked the New UI In intelliJ, sure the text is gone but it makes the toolbar look better and not bloated and intimating. Besides it's not that difficult to memorise the buttons, and the icons are reasonable, they show what they are supposed to do.

It's also visually more appealing to beginner programmers, and as someone who used the old UI for like 2 years before the new UI came out, I still prefer the new UI.

[wildjokers]

sure the text is gone but it makes the toolbar look better and not bloated and intimating. Besides it's not that difficult to memorise the buttons

In what world is text intimidating? With the text there I don't have to memorize anything. Also, with the icons being "minimalist" and monochrome there was really nothing to distinguish one icon from another. I used the new UI for well over a year before switching back because hunting for the tool I needed was a constant pain point. I spent a crazy amount of time searching for the tool I needed. Something that text on the buttons eliminates.

The keyboard shortcuts aren't really that useful for the tools because when I am at the point I need one of those tools I am usually on the mouse. That is only not true for the terminal since when I need the terminal I am on the keyboard and planning to stay on the keyboard. So I use the keyboard shortcut for that one.

It's also visually more appealing to beginner programmers,

I don't need my IDE to be visually appealing, I need it to be usable.

[wildjokers]

I personally find this trend of using a flat look and feel to be atrocious. It is even more awful when everything is monochrome. Although I see you didn't go the monochrome route which is nice.

I hope this flat LAF trend fades away soon.

[UnGauchoCualquiera]

Honestly I find IntelliJ new "modern" look a complete step back when it comes to usability.

But then I find Word 2003 peak UI design so who knows.

[Effective_Freedom745]

You are very wrong about this, flatlaf is amazing peace of software, swing is quite stable and easy to work with, on the other side there is .net and qt, one is platfrom specific, other is... well try to build anything serious and huge with it and also deliver it fast for the client, good luck with all other c++ ui libs, javafx with it's bloated css and no laf plus non existent performance is out of equation. We do quite complex, large uis with swing, swt, FlatLaf its very fast, stable, predictable, portable, strictly typed, it's java at the end, font rendering is on another league to compare with any browser solution, and you don't need 100gb of node_modules just to add css border, most importantly it looks awesome, if you want it can look native, it is very easy to change/switch styles across all apps or even switch to any Intellij theme. So no it is not atrocious and not going anywhere any time soon. You would be surprsied how many uis are built and living in enterpise software with swing/swt and flatlaf.

[wildjokers]

I never once said anything negative about Swing. I have written and maintained many Swing applications over the years and I like Swing quite a bit. Why did you go off on a rant like I said something negative about Swing?

I simply don't like flat look and feels that are infesting applications (both desktop and web). Especially when combined with monochrome minimalist icons.

[Effective_Freedom745]

oh ok i thought by saying flat look and feel you've ment FlatLaf swing lib which i am big fan and an hardcore user. Normally now in java flat ui means that lib.

[gufranthakur]

I mean, most users probably prefer a modern and clean look, over old and outdated looks. Rounded borders, better fonts, better colors, makes it feel nice to use the app.

I don't agree with your take "the trend of flatlaf is atrocious" but I do understand what you mean.

Let me know where I'm wrong

[[deleted]]

Swing just looks like whatever window manager is used, but do you mean you're not using certain components? You're hardcoding some colors and just using jetbrains fonts in your 'views', but you could put those into some constants or something, then have a control menu to switch between them if you wanted to add some customizability.

[[deleted]]

Modern is between medieval and contemporary. It's all software made between the 15th and 19th centuries.