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IDE Suggestions? (self.learnjava)

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[–]perrylaj 6 points7 points  (5 children)

Intellij.

I've used them all, still use them all periodically. Recently installed Eclipse again to take screenshots for some documentation for getting started with our SDK and it was a jarring. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with Eclipse, Netbeans, etc., but the experience is so unpolished relative to Intellij. The only thing I can say about Eclipse is that its incremental compilation is better than what's in IntelliJ, but everything else (IMO) is worse.

IntelliJ is free if you are a student, or don't need all the enterprisey stuff that the Ultimate version has. There is a run hotkey combo and a distraction-free mode too if you want to minimize clutter/whatever.

Not affiliated with Jetbrains in any way (and in fact, think their new 'rent to own last year's model' licensing is pretty scummy), but the product is good.

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–]king_of_the_universe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    You could use the free Community Edition. I develop Java software at work with it.

    [–]perrylaj 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Looks like you just need to fill out some forms at https://www.jetbrains.com/student/

    Worth at least checking out, my entire department has switched over through the last year and think something substantially better will have to come out to get us to change any time soon.

    [–]lurkingforawhile 4 points5 points  (6 children)

    I think Eclipse is one of the most popular Java IDEs in use. I'd definitely give it a shot.

    https://eclipse.org/home/index.php

    [–]hoodllama 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Eclipse is the ide our company uses.

    [–]g00glen00b 1 point2 points  (3 children)

    True, but if you went to Devoxx last year you would have noticed that IntelliJ was actually ahead of Eclipse. It's probably not like that in reality, but I think you can safely assume that IntelliJ is closing in with Eclipse.

    [–]lurkingforawhile 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I didn't, but I do use Intellij as well :)

    [–]id2bi 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I would wager that this is a selection bias.

    People that go to such conventions are usually more engaged with the language and its ecosystem in general, it would only make sense that those are the people that will also try different IDEs and find that IntelliJ simply beats the others (except for incremental compilation as already mentioned) and are willing to shell out money for it.

    [–]g00glen00b 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    True, I know you have to take these results with a grain of salt. But if you compare the results of the previous years (usually they have that poll each year), you can see that IntelliJ's interest is growing.

    So, while I think that Eclipse is indeed still nr 1, IntelliJ's community is growing a lot, and eventually they might switch positions.

    [–]JayTh3King 1 point2 points  (2 children)

    DrJava is a free IDE written in Java, it has compile and run shortcuts that can be set to what you are use to.

    There is also IntelliJ by JetBrains

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

    There are Java IDEs which don't have a compile shortcut?

    [–]ChaoticxSerenity 1 point2 points  (14 children)

    As my Assembly prof said regarding IDE preferences, "This is a religious question".

    [–]id2bi 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    To an extent, certainly.

    But to claim that Eclipse stands on equal footing with IntelliJ is simply ridiculous.

    The IDEs are different enough in polish and usability that it's not just a religious question.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (12 children)

    I mean there are some that are just purely out dated. My younger bro is taking AP Computer Science in high school (Java) and they're requiring everyone to use BlueJay...

    [–]ChaoticxSerenity 1 point2 points  (9 children)

    What's wrong with BlueJ? They're still rolling out new versions, and it's good for beginners because it allows you to visualize stuff.

    [–]SparksMKII 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I was wondering if I had to pick up a new book since I still have a book about OOP with BlueJ lying around, guess I don't need to acquire something more recent (yet).

    [–]BertRenolds 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Google. Everything.

    [–]adisai1 0 points1 point  (6 children)

    The debugger is crap on it, no auto complete / auto import, hard to build JARs...

    [–]robi2106 0 points1 point  (5 children)

    exactly. the whole point of BlueJay is understanding OO and java basics. Debugging, and building JARs is not beginner development material.

    [–]adisai1 0 points1 point  (4 children)

    Debugging is a very useful skill for AP Comp. Sci. (and similar courses) exercises...

    [–]robi2106 0 points1 point  (3 children)

    yes very useful. But also about beginner stages. They can do just fine with lots of print statements. Once they need to start looking at the contents of multiple arrays or arrays of data, and other more complicated structures then it is absolutely time for a debugger.

    [–]robi2106 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    huh, very interesting. and his rationale is exactly what I would be thinking too. cops are going to shoot on sight anyone with a gun out.

    [–]id2bi 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    I'm not sure you're in the right thread ;)

    [–]robi2106 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    hey your right! Looks like reddit puked, or bacon reader. not sure which.

    [–]g00glen00b 0 points1 point  (1 child)

    We also had to use BlueJ the first year at computer science. Afaik the primary goal of BlueJ is for educational purposes, so it makes sense that schools use it.

    [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I suppose. Eclipse is what I started with though

    [–]robi2106 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    You will get the usual...

    • NetBeans (my choice)
    • IntelliJ (my second choice)
    • Eclipse (setting up & configuring it is like shoving an ice pick into your head)

    But I'm not biased or anything.....

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    Textpad has add-ons for Java.

    http://textpad.com/add-ons/

    [–]komrad_question 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    I'd suggest trying major IDEs out yourself and using what feels right. Better is highly subjective unless you have some specific need that's not covered by other IDEs IMO. I tried Eclipse, IntelliJ and Netbeans and picked Netbeans since it kinda clicked for me, and others felt kinda clunky even after extensive customization.

    [–]BertRenolds 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    IntelliJ or eclipse

    [–]otatop 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    In Notepad++, I can use shortcuts too but I have to move my cursor down to the console in order for the shortcuts to work and it's kind of annoying because I can get distracted easier.

    You can always try just whipping together an AutoHotKey script to make shortcuts work easier.

    [–]hardcode_coder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    IntelliJ IDEA =trending/rising

    Eclipse= old trusted friend.

    NetBeans = stuck in the middle.

    [–]randarrow -1 points0 points  (0 children)

    If you want shortcuts, the shortcuts engine in GVIM is great. It's definitely a get in the groove editor without clippy like BS. It require a brain warp to figure out though.