6 ms·

Why not just use IntelliJ?

pron 13y ago
IntelliJ is a great IDE, but personally I prefer NetBeans. The killer feature for me is the Gradle integration that is far superior in NetBeans, but I also find the GUI nicer and much more intuitive.
skittles 13y ago
I don't like IntelliJ, but I do like Netbeans for Java and PHP development. IntelliJ has a behavior that I can't stand (almost an OCD trigger for me). When I click on a page of code somewhere past the last character in a line, I expect the cursor to appear behind the last character. IntelliJ leaves it floating out in a very unsatisfying manner. I know that IntelliJ does auto formatting and that it doesn't really matter, but I feel real anxiety with this default behavior. And Netbeans is free for the full version. To me IntelliJ doesn't offer enough to pay for it.
- netcraft 13y ago
  You can turn this off easily, I believe it is called virtual space. I had the same reaction when I first started with intellij.
- bretthoerner 13y ago
  You know there are options and this can be easily disabled in seconds, right?
- mushishi 13y ago
  You don't really know IntelliJ if you think that behaviour like that wasn't configurable. I can see why you wouldn't feel like paying. It might take a person who has put some real time into IntelliJ to see how much it offers. For future problems, the preferences view is searchable, as is many other view.
- StevePerkins 13y ago
  File -> Settings -> Editor -> "Allow placement of caret after end of line". Uncheck. I'm not exactly a zealot for any particular tool, and I used Eclipse for almost a decade. However, after trying even the community edition of IntelliJ for a few weeks... I would feel like the guy in "Flowers for Algernon" if I ever had to go back. The community edition is actually open-source (Apache license). I ended up buying an ultimate edition license recently because of the Chronon debugger, but you don't NEED anything beyond the community edition unless you want deep IDE integration with Spring, JEE, or some other supported framework. Frankly, I'm not really using any paid features beyond Chronon...
  - latchkey 13y ago
    I'm in a similar boat. Used Eclipse forever. Even tried IntelliJ for a bit years ago and hated it. Tried it again recently after Eclipse crashed and trashed its workspace. Now I can't see ever going back to anything else. The killer feature for me oddly enough is: fuzzy search for a file
    - Meai 13y ago
      I can't stand the overcrowded popups in intellij (e.g: intellisense popups), there's just too much going on, all kinds of icons and extra info that is unnecessary. I have been able to customize away everything I dislike in intellij except for that.
      - latchkey 13y ago
        Have you submitted an enhancement report asking for a design improvement? I've submitted several to them and gotten all sorts of great responses from them. If you don't give them feedback through the appropriate channels, then you aren't going to get improvement.
depsypher 13y ago
It may be well worth it, but shelling out $200 is not really a no-brainer when compared to free.
- jasonlotito 13y ago
  If you are a hobbyist, sure. But if you are a programmer for a living, I see it as a no-brainer.
  - LeoNatan25 13y ago
    If you are a hobbyist, the community edition of IDEA is more than enough.
- flavor8 13y ago
  IntelliJ community is free & open source. It's missing some of the enterprise features of the commercial version but it's still a fantastic IDE. There is a learning curve if you're used to eclipse, but it's worth it. Give it a week.
  - depsypher 13y ago
    A full throated defense of Eclipse is a difficult proposition, because there's so much very wrong with it. The article is right, getting Eclipse set up on Java 8 is a pain, and poorly documented. But it does work. And for free. With full "enterprise" features. Let's not lose sight of that. I would use the free community edition of IntelliJ, but I do java web development and need the full version to be on par with what Eclipse offers. The investment of time is as big a deal as the $200, so for now at least I stick with Eclipse.
    - TylerE 13y ago
      How much time does that take? If it's more than about half a day spending the money is a no-brainer if you're making anything like a living wage.
    - flavor8 13y ago

pron 13y ago

IntelliJ is a great IDE, but personally I prefer NetBeans. The killer feature for me is the Gradle integration that is far superior in NetBeans, but I also find the GUI nicer and much more intuitive.

skittles 13y ago

I don't like IntelliJ, but I do like Netbeans for Java and PHP development. IntelliJ has a behavior that I can't stand (almost an OCD trigger for me). When I click on a page of code somewhere past the last character in a line, I expect the cursor to appear behind the last character. IntelliJ leaves it floating out in a very unsatisfying manner. I know that IntelliJ does auto formatting and that it doesn't really matter, but I feel real anxiety with this default behavior. And Netbeans is free for the full version. To me IntelliJ doesn't offer enough to pay for it.

netcraft 13y ago
You can turn this off easily, I believe it is called virtual space. I had the same reaction when I first started with intellij.
bretthoerner 13y ago
You know there are options and this can be easily disabled in seconds, right?
mushishi 13y ago
You don't really know IntelliJ if you think that behaviour like that wasn't configurable. I can see why you wouldn't feel like paying. It might take a person who has put some real time into IntelliJ to see how much it offers. For future problems, the preferences view is searchable, as is many other view.
StevePerkins 13y ago
File -> Settings -> Editor -> "Allow placement of caret after end of line". Uncheck. I'm not exactly a zealot for any particular tool, and I used Eclipse for almost a decade. However, after trying even the community edition of IntelliJ for a few weeks... I would feel like the guy in "Flowers for Algernon" if I ever had to go back. The community edition is actually open-source (Apache license). I ended up buying an ultimate edition license recently because of the Chronon debugger, but you don't NEED anything beyond the community edition unless you want deep IDE integration with Spring, JEE, or some other supported framework. Frankly, I'm not really using any paid features beyond Chronon...
- latchkey 13y ago
  I'm in a similar boat. Used Eclipse forever. Even tried IntelliJ for a bit years ago and hated it. Tried it again recently after Eclipse crashed and trashed its workspace. Now I can't see ever going back to anything else. The killer feature for me oddly enough is: fuzzy search for a file
  - Meai 13y ago
    I can't stand the overcrowded popups in intellij (e.g: intellisense popups), there's just too much going on, all kinds of icons and extra info that is unnecessary. I have been able to customize away everything I dislike in intellij except for that.
    - latchkey 13y ago
      Have you submitted an enhancement report asking for a design improvement? I've submitted several to them and gotten all sorts of great responses from them. If you don't give them feedback through the appropriate channels, then you aren't going to get improvement.

depsypher 13y ago

It may be well worth it, but shelling out $200 is not really a no-brainer when compared to free.

jasonlotito 13y ago
If you are a hobbyist, sure. But if you are a programmer for a living, I see it as a no-brainer.
- LeoNatan25 13y ago
  If you are a hobbyist, the community edition of IDEA is more than enough.
flavor8 13y ago
IntelliJ community is free & open source. It's missing some of the enterprise features of the commercial version but it's still a fantastic IDE. There is a learning curve if you're used to eclipse, but it's worth it. Give it a week.
- depsypher 13y ago
  A full throated defense of Eclipse is a difficult proposition, because there's so much very wrong with it. The article is right, getting Eclipse set up on Java 8 is a pain, and poorly documented. But it does work. And for free. With full "enterprise" features. Let's not lose sight of that. I would use the free community edition of IntelliJ, but I do java web development and need the full version to be on par with what Eclipse offers. The investment of time is as big a deal as the $200, so for now at least I stick with Eclipse.
  - TylerE 13y ago
    How much time does that take? If it's more than about half a day spending the money is a no-brainer if you're making anything like a living wage.
  - flavor8 13y ago