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Part of it feels like it comes from a different development philosophy. Vscode is a "text editor" or a "code editor". Usually this means that it's fairly light

Part of it feels like it comes from a different development philosophy. Vscode is a "text editor" or a "code editor". Usually this means that it's fairly lightweight, supports every language under the sun, is highly configurable and extensible, but doesn't have a lot of very in-depth features, and also partially relies on third-party extensions for deeper functionality. Jetbrains on the other hand works on IDEs built for one specific language explicitly. Consider CLion for C, it's only a couple of years old! They put a lot of resources into supporting a language and all its relevant workflows. Phpstorm for instance has built-in support for three different standalone code quality checkers, composer (package manager) support, deep language understanding with highlighting, warning, errors, refactorings, generators etc, doc comments, code formatting, support for different testing frameworks, a built-in debugger, etcetcetc... While that's great, you shouldn't go edit python code in Phpstorm. It supports syntax highlighting and maybe a couple of other small features, but that's it! In short, code editors usually cast a really wide net with a lot of configurability and extensibility, while (jetbrains) IDEs tend to go really deep on a single language or workflow, with less extensibility, and deep configurability within the supported language itself.

cyral 6y ago
One thing to note is that you can use IntelliJ and install the official plugins for each language. For example you can bring the WebStorm functionality to IntelliJ, or install the database plugin to get an embedded Datagrip window. (Which is really neat because you can then get SQL syntax highlighting and such based on your actual DB)
- vinger 6y ago
  How does the open source IDEA plus php plugin experience compare to phpstorm?
  - yrio 6y ago
    The plugins for alternative languages (PHP, Python) are available only for IntelliJ Ultimate / paid. It's not available in free / open source IntelliJ So either [1] you buy IntelliJ Ultimate & get Java + other languages (PHP, Python, Ruby, etc except .NET and C++) or [2] you buy the language specific IDE (cheaper) like PhpStorm, PyCharm, etc
    - CraigJPerry 6y ago
      That didn’t used to be the case. You used to be able to add the Python plugin to the free IDEA ide and that would give you java + pycharm - but only the free tier features of pycharm. However, if you used the paid IDEA, adding the Python plugin gave you full PyCharm capabilities EXCEPT that IDEA was always based on version N of the core IDE platform where PyCharm was based on N+1 version, i.e. the smaller pycharm IDE sometimes had some newer platform features than the IDEA ide which led to occasional differences between IDEA + Python plugin vs PyCharm. I switched to VSCode last year and let my licence lapse for Intellij so things may have changed. What i will say, despite having moved to VSCode and being entirely happy - Intellij is the better platform. It’s the difference between 80% and 99% though, and the VSCode 80% is good enough. If i went back to full time dev, i would buy another jetbrains licence.
- amitport 6y ago
  Well just note that this doesn't work with all combination of languages. Try installing CLion on webstorm for example.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - irrational 6y ago
    IntelliJ ultimate is the main IDE. Everything else is a version of IntelliJ that has been configured for a specific language. IntelliJ should, theoretically, be able to behave like any of the sub-IDEs, but the reverse is not true.
    - dagmx 6y ago
      Theoretically yes. In practice no. Each IDE has workflows and features tuned to their respective domain. They're not just simple configuration changes from each other
      - snuxoll 6y ago
        The simplified setup for modules in the language-specific IDEs alone makes them worth it IMO. It’s great that the plugins in IntelliJ cover basically everything but CLion, AppCode and Rider - but if I’m working on Python, JavaScript, PHP or doing database work I’ll still fire up Pycharm, WebStorm, PHPStorm and DataGrip respectively because there’s less overhead getting my project imported (and DataGrip is more useful as a standalone DBA tool because I open it and all of my connections are right there). Given the individual license cost difference between IntelliJ Ultimate and the All Products Pack is minimal it’s worth it, especially given it’s cheaper than IntelliJ + CLion separately.
        Macha 6y ago
        Even just using the correct language terms is helpful. IntelliJ modules contain packages, because that's how Java works, which makes it super confusing when your modules are python packages and its subunit (called package in the UI) is a python module.
jayjader 6y ago
I wonder if you have had the chance to use a Jetbrains IDE with a professional license. Doing so gives you access to more or less the content of all the other "flavors" as plugins (it's basically all IntelliJ underneath). For example, I've been using PyCharm for both our python backend _and_ our React + Typescript frontend, all in the same project window, with the same features regarding syntax, linting, refactoring, tests, debugging, etc.
- Longhanks 6y ago
  It does not for C/C++, you need CLion for that.
  - jbluepolarbear 6y ago
    You can also use Resharper C/C++ in Visual Studio and Rider C++ for Unreal Engine.
    - malkia 6y ago
      I've been using it for the last 3 years. At first it was slow, and running out of memory (it was in-process in Visual Studio, which is limited to 32-bits), but now that they've moved a lot to out-of-process it's much better!
    - tartoran 6y ago
      I don’t know what version you use but Visual Studio 2019 is so full of bugs that it crashes multiple times a day or I simply restart it as some features such as codelens simply stop working and it becomes cumbersome to find references. Im sure they’d get their s__t together in the next version but so far I’m stuck with a crappy IDE. I’ve had a similar VS experience in the past and while it works it’s okay when I can upgrade i am super reluctant to do so. Yes, MS does push half baked versions quite often
  - sammorrowdrums 6y ago
    And Rust, as the debugger only works for Rust in CLion. I use PyCharm and WebStorm daily, and CLion for Rust projects at the moment.
dehrmann 6y ago
Turns out 99% of my work is in something like Java, Python, or JS. Once you include other JVM languages, C++, PHP, and Ruby, IDEA's coverage is huge. They even have C#, Objective C, and Switft offerings, but there's something to be said for staying in those ecosystems.
neonological 6y ago
Intellij allows you to install pretty much most of the features from all the other jetbrains IDEs as plugins. Additionally most of their IDE's have the ability to code in several other languages seperate from the core experience. Almost all of their IDE's can for example integrate with the javascript ecosystem. I think you're making a mistake here. Essentially behind the scenes there's one jetbrains IDE. This IDE is a single platform that can take plugins and code in any language and be customizable to your hearts content. ON the surface however Jetbrains doesn't exactly release this IDE to the public. They deliver different configurations and different defaults on TOP of this IDE, then they lock it down a little and ship each one of these profiles under a different name. All these IDE's are basically different bundles of plugins running on the exact same core platform. That's why CLion is only a couple years old and still really good. It's because all Jetbrains needed to develop was a plugin and shove it into an existing ecosystem. This is no different then Vscode when you think about it. Both are coding platforms that can be plugged with new features, it's just that jetbrains locks some of this customization down and sells their IDEs with bundles of plugins that offers a better core experience. What makes Jetbrains better is this focused and higher quality bundle of features that feels cohesive. What makes jetbrains worse is that this central platform they're developing for is bloated. Everything is slow, takes forever and can lock up. If Jetbrains just did something to speed up the platform then pretty much IMO it beats anything Vscode has to offer.
- KptMarchewa 6y ago
  Not to their other ides, just for Intellij.
- nyanpasu64 6y ago
  A faster/lighter JetBrains IDE would beat everything in VSCode... except for price. CLion and WebStorm and PhpStorm cost money, there's no dedicated Rust IDE yet, and you have to pay money for CLion or (IntelliJ Ultimate) (not Community) to debug Rust programs.
  - pvorb 6y ago
    And still, it's really cheap if you consider the amount of work you have to put into configuring other products like VS Code where you end up with an inferior experience. I think it pays off.

cyral 6y ago

One thing to note is that you can use IntelliJ and install the official plugins for each language. For example you can bring the WebStorm functionality to IntelliJ, or install the database plugin to get an embedded Datagrip window. (Which is really neat because you can then get SQL syntax highlighting and such based on your actual DB)

vinger 6y ago
How does the open source IDEA plus php plugin experience compare to phpstorm?
- yrio 6y ago
  The plugins for alternative languages (PHP, Python) are available only for IntelliJ Ultimate / paid. It's not available in free / open source IntelliJ So either [1] you buy IntelliJ Ultimate & get Java + other languages (PHP, Python, Ruby, etc except .NET and C++) or [2] you buy the language specific IDE (cheaper) like PhpStorm, PyCharm, etc
  - CraigJPerry 6y ago
    That didn’t used to be the case. You used to be able to add the Python plugin to the free IDEA ide and that would give you java + pycharm - but only the free tier features of pycharm. However, if you used the paid IDEA, adding the Python plugin gave you full PyCharm capabilities EXCEPT that IDEA was always based on version N of the core IDE platform where PyCharm was based on N+1 version, i.e. the smaller pycharm IDE sometimes had some newer platform features than the IDEA ide which led to occasional differences between IDEA + Python plugin vs PyCharm. I switched to VSCode last year and let my licence lapse for Intellij so things may have changed. What i will say, despite having moved to VSCode and being entirely happy - Intellij is the better platform. It’s the difference between 80% and 99% though, and the VSCode 80% is good enough. If i went back to full time dev, i would buy another jetbrains licence.
amitport 6y ago
Well just note that this doesn't work with all combination of languages. Try installing CLion on webstorm for example.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- irrational 6y ago
  IntelliJ ultimate is the main IDE. Everything else is a version of IntelliJ that has been configured for a specific language. IntelliJ should, theoretically, be able to behave like any of the sub-IDEs, but the reverse is not true.
  - dagmx 6y ago
    Theoretically yes. In practice no. Each IDE has workflows and features tuned to their respective domain. They're not just simple configuration changes from each other
    - snuxoll 6y ago
      The simplified setup for modules in the language-specific IDEs alone makes them worth it IMO. It’s great that the plugins in IntelliJ cover basically everything but CLion, AppCode and Rider - but if I’m working on Python, JavaScript, PHP or doing database work I’ll still fire up Pycharm, WebStorm, PHPStorm and DataGrip respectively because there’s less overhead getting my project imported (and DataGrip is more useful as a standalone DBA tool because I open it and all of my connections are right there). Given the individual license cost difference between IntelliJ Ultimate and the All Products Pack is minimal it’s worth it, especially given it’s cheaper than IntelliJ + CLion separately.
      - Macha 6y ago
        Even just using the correct language terms is helpful. IntelliJ modules contain packages, because that's how Java works, which makes it super confusing when your modules are python packages and its subunit (called package in the UI) is a python module.

jayjader 6y ago

I wonder if you have had the chance to use a Jetbrains IDE with a professional license. Doing so gives you access to more or less the content of all the other "flavors" as plugins (it's basically all IntelliJ underneath). For example, I've been using PyCharm for both our python backend _and_ our React + Typescript frontend, all in the same project window, with the same features regarding syntax, linting, refactoring, tests, debugging, etc.

Longhanks 6y ago
It does not for C/C++, you need CLion for that.
- jbluepolarbear 6y ago
  You can also use Resharper C/C++ in Visual Studio and Rider C++ for Unreal Engine.
  - malkia 6y ago
    I've been using it for the last 3 years. At first it was slow, and running out of memory (it was in-process in Visual Studio, which is limited to 32-bits), but now that they've moved a lot to out-of-process it's much better!
  - tartoran 6y ago
    I don’t know what version you use but Visual Studio 2019 is so full of bugs that it crashes multiple times a day or I simply restart it as some features such as codelens simply stop working and it becomes cumbersome to find references. Im sure they’d get their s__t together in the next version but so far I’m stuck with a crappy IDE. I’ve had a similar VS experience in the past and while it works it’s okay when I can upgrade i am super reluctant to do so. Yes, MS does push half baked versions quite often
- sammorrowdrums 6y ago
  And Rust, as the debugger only works for Rust in CLion. I use PyCharm and WebStorm daily, and CLion for Rust projects at the moment.

dehrmann 6y ago

Turns out 99% of my work is in something like Java, Python, or JS. Once you include other JVM languages, C++, PHP, and Ruby, IDEA's coverage is huge. They even have C#, Objective C, and Switft offerings, but there's something to be said for staying in those ecosystems.

neonological 6y ago

Intellij allows you to install pretty much most of the features from all the other jetbrains IDEs as plugins. Additionally most of their IDE's have the ability to code in several other languages seperate from the core experience. Almost all of their IDE's can for example integrate with the javascript ecosystem. I think you're making a mistake here. Essentially behind the scenes there's one jetbrains IDE. This IDE is a single platform that can take plugins and code in any language and be customizable to your hearts content. ON the surface however Jetbrains doesn't exactly release this IDE to the public. They deliver different configurations and different defaults on TOP of this IDE, then they lock it down a little and ship each one of these profiles under a different name. All these IDE's are basically different bundles of plugins running on the exact same core platform. That's why CLion is only a couple years old and still really good. It's because all Jetbrains needed to develop was a plugin and shove it into an existing ecosystem. This is no different then Vscode when you think about it. Both are coding platforms that can be plugged with new features, it's just that jetbrains locks some of this customization down and sells their IDEs with bundles of plugins that offers a better core experience. What makes Jetbrains better is this focused and higher quality bundle of features that feels cohesive. What makes jetbrains worse is that this central platform they're developing for is bloated. Everything is slow, takes forever and can lock up. If Jetbrains just did something to speed up the platform then pretty much IMO it beats anything Vscode has to offer.

KptMarchewa 6y ago
Not to their other ides, just for Intellij.
nyanpasu64 6y ago
A faster/lighter JetBrains IDE would beat everything in VSCode... except for price. CLion and WebStorm and PhpStorm cost money, there's no dedicated Rust IDE yet, and you have to pay money for CLion or (IntelliJ Ultimate) (not Community) to debug Rust programs.
- pvorb 6y ago
  And still, it's really cheap if you consider the amount of work you have to put into configuring other products like VS Code where you end up with an inferior experience. I think it pays off.