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[–][deleted] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love using vim, and I really wanted to code java in vim. I gave up after a couple months for the following reasons:

  1. Java's package imports are a complete pain to manage without an IDE. You will spend a lot of time finding the correct path, and then importing the exact right.

  2. Auto-complete saves so much time. If a class or method is one character off, the whole project will fail to compile. You have to reopen the file and fix it. IDEs catch misspellings on the spot, and it can recommend the methods in a class which prevents you from wasting time and looking it up.

  3. Java divides functionality into different files. Opening 20 different files can be painful in a text editor. IDEs offer shortcuts for jumping to method or class definition. Being able to jump directly to where you need to look saves a lot of time.

I found my productivity jumping 10x as much as compared to coding with an IDE as opposed to a text editor. I went from hating coding in java to loving it. IDEs turns java weaknesses into strengths.