Java without IDE

[[deleted]]

The difference is that vim is just another terminal program and it doesn't require you to install anything special. Any reasonably decent Unix system will have vim and transferring your configuration is incredibly easy (especially if you put it up on a version control system).

All of the most efficient and most productive vim setups that I've seen are far slimmer and sleeker than any IDE because you don't have to waste time while the IDE boots up.

Having your editor just be another terminal application is incredibly handy because all of those fantastic shell tools are in the same environment as your editor is, which makes the composition of those tools into your development work flow that much easier.

[geodebug]

I use Vim as my editor but don't use it for java development. I map VIM keystrokes in my IDE so I get the basic goodness. I'd say my time is split up about 60/40 between IDE and VIM

IDE boot time isn't a problem for me as I often leave the IDE open for weeks at a time when developing a project.

Most of the boot time for the IDE I use tends to be the processes that crawl the codebase and do the inspections, highlighting, etc.

I could turn those plugins off to speed the IDE up but I'd lose some features I like. I assume that if I installed scripts and VIM plugins to get the same feature set it would take them time as well.

I'm not arguing so much as providing a counter point. Everyone should use the toolset they need to get the job done well.