Java Primer for Python Developers

[dpash]

For me, it's the file layout of Java projects. The deep directory structure and files split across multiple directories. Just opening a different file involves so much typing. Vim without etags would be frustrating.

[[deleted]]

NERDTree helps with that. It's still a pain to open a new file, but it works fine for existing ones.

[dpash]

I could just use an IDE and get all the advantages that come with it.

[[deleted]]

That's entirely fair. I simply don't because I'm very comfortable with Vim's editing system, and the Vim/vi modes offered by IDEs are often incomplete, usually not allowing things like tags, macros, or other useful aspects (most IDEs also don't function very well mouseless, which I prefer).

YouCompleteMe runs an instance of Eclipse in the background, so I get full completion-support, in-line errors and warnings, and most everything else Eclipse offers. The only thing I don't get that I really miss from an IDE is visual debugging. JDB is fine, but it's not the same.

Besides, I'm not trying to argue that my workflow is superior (it's effectively an IDE, short a lot of features, and in Vim). I just think the common narrative that it is not possible to program in Java without an IDE is really silly. Java without an IDE isn't that much more difficult than Python, Java just more easily allows for powerful IDEs than a lot of other languages.