Best IDE?

So, I've been coding plugins for a little over a year now and I've been doing all of that work in Eclipse. Recently I got Visual Studio Enterprise so I could code with c# for Unity, since the built in IDE (MonoDevelop) is no good.
My question is, what IDE is the best for bukkit coding?
I love eclipse and how I have it set up along with the syntax highlighting when using a dark ui. However, Visual Studio supports way more languages unlike eclipse where it only supports JS. Not to mention Visual Studio has some great features. Should I start using Visual Studio for everything, or just keep using Eclipse for plugin dev?

Just wondering what your opinions on it are, or if you have a better IDE (for windows) that you really like.

 

@shades161

First off, Eclipse barely supports JS. Eclipse is first and foremost a Java IDE, with first party extensions to C/C++, CUDA, and a few others. They tried to go for the one IDE fits all approach and failed miserably, as nobody wrote in support for other languages, and those that did didn't do so very well.

As far as I know, Visual Studio's support for Java is lacklustre at best (i.e. it doesn't even support build pipelines for Java). Also, I can't think of a single feature that Visual Studio has that Eclipse doesn't (other than a more streamlined design). Actually, come to think of it, there is a feature it has: Microsoft specificness (that's not a good thing). It also only really supports the Microsoft ecosystem of languages (.NET family), and doesn't play well with other systems (like Java).

If you want a truly cross-platform, polyglot IDE, then IntelliJ IDEA is the way to go, it supports a huge family of languages and is one of the most streamlined IDEs you'll find today. In addition, it's primary language is Java, so the Java support is top-notch. The only real downside to IDEA is that you absolutely must know what you're doing, because the IDE does not provide crutches like Eclipse does (and the learning curve for the program itself is pretty steep).

 

I agree with @mythbusterma, Eclipse is really good when it comes to Java, from checking errors, to being fairly simple. People have made quite a few plugins for Eclipse, like Metrics, which shows lots of useful info about a project, or Saros, which allows you and a partner to work on some code at the same time.
I personally use Eclipse because that's what I am most familiar with, but I have heard lots of good things about IntelliJ too.

 

@mythbusterma, 100% agreed.

(gets popcorn for the madness that is about to happen)

Eclipse is an amazing program. It has incredible plugin support, very self-explanatory functions, and is great for new programmers to Java.
However, Eclipse's simplicity is also it's downfall.
White it has great support for Java, it fails in supporting other languages that you will use when writing java applications such as JSON, YAML, Javascript, html, and so on. It has training wheels to make it simple, as Mythbuster said, but eventually they must be taken off.

And this is where IntelliJ IDEA soars.

IntelliJ actually put out a massive update this morning and I will be pulling a lot of stuff from it because, well, it's absolutely amazing.
It looks so much better. I mean, really. Just look at the difference here.
ECLIPSE:


VS INTELLIJ IDEA. If it feels a bit busy, don't worry. Once you know what each thing does it no longer feels that way.


But besides just that, you wan to know why it is better for Bukkit.

1. YAML and JSON syntax inspection is built in.
2. Integrates with VCS seamlessly, especially GitHub. Really, it makes EGit look like a poop emoji.
3. Know the 10 panes you have to go through to compile every time? Yeah, you do that only once, have full control over outputted dependencies, and it only takes 2 clicks to build. It almost makes maven pointless.
   
4. Indentation lines. They may look corny (up above), but I go and check other people's work in Eclipse in my independent study comp sci class, and I don't know how I ever read indentation without them. If you want this for Eclipse, here's a link to how to get it. http://stackoverflow.com/a/30361632/3833243
   
5. Auto-save. Another thing I don't know how I lived with. (If you don't like that, it can be turned off, and there is a full history pane within the program that goes back nearly a month. [With a restore point every 10 min or so]I've used it when I screw up bad several times.)
6. If you have a variable named iAmVeryLongAndAnnoying and have to invoke thisIsAVeryLongMethodMane, you literally type iA.tIA and hit tab. It completes the rest. I kid you not. Same with, lets say Bukkit. B.gO + tab will change to Bukkit.getOnlinePlayers() flawlessly.
7. Code inspector. When I tell you this thing is freaky, I mean it. It spell checks (When I started using it, my first thought was "HOW THE HECK DOES IT SPELL CHECK CODE?" It just does). It also finds unnecessary modifiers, duplicate code calls... I cant take it. Picture.

BTW: if you use SQL in your plugins, they made a native database manager this morning.
AAAAND rant is over. *Drops mike*

 

@Tecno_Wizard

The database manager has been in the program for as long as I can remember, actually.

Also, it's not even Eclipse's simplicity, it's just poor design and general lack of focus (not to mention resource usage and slowness).

 

@mythbusterma, essentially, it really looks like it was designed by programmers, not artists. Lol. JetBrains has some help.
And I agree with resources and slowness. It uses over 3G of RAM at times.

 

@mythbusterma @Tecno_Wizard Hmm, I've never had a RAM problem with Eclipse. And I actually noticed that the slowness problem disappeared when they released the Mars update. And even more in Mars.1.
Sometime I will try IntelliJ and see how it goes.

 

There is no such thing as "Best IDE"

 

Hehe. Anyway, although it is a matter of opinion, there are some that do things better than the other ones.

 

Then you must use a pretty bad one

 

@mythbusterma @Tecno_Wizard Thanks for all of the info. I just downloaded IntelliJ and, while slightly confusing, am liking it much more than eclipse and visual studio.

 

@shades161
You should also take a look at NetBeans. I don't really have much to say about it. It has loads of features, it's open source, fast, and reliable. I personally like NetBeans more than any other IDE I have tried before but it really comes down to preference.

 

@Hawktasard, agreed. I always advocate intellij, but it really just comes down to what that person likes. @shades161, its a bit of a learning curve, but just keep reading the tips of the day for a month or so and you won't be able to stand eclipse anymore. Well, at least I couldn't. Additionally, open up settings and change the compiler to eclipse. It's significantly faster.

 

@teej107 LOL, that really made my laugh xD

And well, I don't think there is an IDE for all the languages, it really depends on what you're working with and what do you want, some people like really powerful IDEs that have a lot of options and others like minimalistic ones that are less distracting instead of having two million buttons, my point is that no matter what people will prefer one or another IDE and not everyone will agree in that, so there is no such thing as "best" IDE, of course, there are some that may be better than the rest, but that's a different story

 

@Hawktasard

IntelliJ is pretty quick, fast on most machines, and the community edition is open source. I don't see the gain in using NetBeans (other than an interface that looks 50+ years out of date). Even Oracle stopped recommending it. That's when you know it's bad.


@Konato_K

There are some that are simultaneously bloated and still somehow starved of features, like Eclipse. In general, IDEA is definitely the best poly-glot and the best at Java, although it is beat out in some specific languages by others (a number that is quickly shrinking). As for minimalism, in IDEA, I press one button and get a minimalistic interface:



That looks pretty minimalistic to me, if you'll excuse all the tabs I have open. And with a few more configurations, it can hide everything but the menu and editor window.

 

I wasn't comparing Netbeans to IntelliJ. I do like IntelliJ but I prefer Netbeans. I just wanted OP to check it out.

Doesn't look that bad to me.
https://netbeans.org/images_www/v6/8/screenshots/java-editor.png

Proof?
https://gyazo.com/422719e1db057f54e005c3f777dc945f

 

@Hawktasard

Ah, never mind, I was mistaken about Oracle no longer recommending it.

I'm not sure of a single reason to like NetBeans over IntelliJ though, other than having so few features that it can barely be considered an IDE? I know that's a "feature" for some people.

 

@mythbusterma @Tecno_Wizard
Thank you for suggesting I use IntelliJ. I love it. And compared to eclipse, I don't know how I standed to use that for almost a year. It did take about a day to learn the interface and a lot of its features, but after about a week of using it, I'm never going back to eclipse. Thank you again.

 

@shades161, that sounds just about how I felt. "How did I ever use this thing?" lol

 

@Tecno_Wizard @mythbusterma I downloaded IntelliJ, it seems really good, it's just really hard to figure out how to use. It's like upgrading from driving a car to operating a spaceship with no learning between.
I'll keep trying to learn it.

 

So is this thread going to turn into a "Post your conversion stories here" thread?
Not that I have anything against IntelliJ. I use it and like it a lot.

 

@teej107 I think it's good too, but it's not like it comes with instructions, you have to figure out everything, or find someone who posted a tutorial about what you need.

 

I mean, other the the manual, or the getting started with IntelliJ IDEA video.

https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/documentation/ <-- both are available

 

@mythbusterma crushed that explanation, I would reccomend IntelliJ even though I still run back to Eclipse.

 

....

 

I tried to hug you. I was going to be the fifth. You are why I have trust issues.

I only use Eclipse any more because I go to three different houses which has had the program installed forever. I'll replace it when I get around to it. B)

 

I switched to IntelliJ, it's much better..

 

Who needs an IDE? javac and Notepad all the way bruh (in all seriousness, IntelliJ is honestly one of the best IDEs for Java, excellent support for many languages, a great repository of plugins, nice interface, loads of features. Highly recommend.), also @shades161, JetBrains (the creators of IntelliJ), have a plugin for VisualStudio that you could probably take a look at, I haven't tried it myself, but I know from my (limited) use it can be rather a pain at times, and the plugin is suppose to fix some of that.

 

I'm mad at JetBrains. I think @teej107 knows why..

 

Since I started using IntelliJ I found the love of my life, I became rich and my hair has growth back

No wait, I'm getting off topic