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.
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...
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Comments
Why not just use IntelliJ?
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.
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...
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
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.
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.
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.
You can turn this off easily, I believe it is called virtual space. I had the same reaction when I first started with intellij.
You know there are options and this can be easily disabled in seconds, right?
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.
It may be well worth it, but shelling out $200 is not really a no-brainer when compared to free.
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.
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.
Specifically which "enterprise" features does IntelliJ community _not_ supply for you?
I too am a web developer (at least when wearing one of my hats). IntelliJ community does almost everything I need.
The main thing is running (and debugging code running within) the application server... aka tomcat. Need the ultimate edition for that.
Ah, so some sort of hot deploy? Not something that I've done for a long time (jetty ftw). Remote debugging of course works well.
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.
If you are a hobbyist, sure. But if you are a programmer for a living, I see it as a no-brainer.
If you are a hobbyist, the community edition of IDEA is more than enough.