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Choosing Your Java IDE: The Pros and Cons of the Most Popular Options

  • baclhemanho1976
  • Aug 12, 2023
  • 7 min read


While you can write your Java programs in a simple text editor, a Java IDE with helpful tools will drastically increase your efficiency. An IDE will include a source code editor, build automation tools, and a debugger to make Java programming easier. But with so many options on the market, it can be hard to determine which IDE is best for you.




Choosing Your Java IDE




An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) bundles all the tools you need to write, debug, and test your code. An IDE allows developers to work in a single environment and improve their programming workflow. Each IDE has different resources, but they all include a text editor, build tools, and a debugger.


Every Java programmer needs a programming editor or IDE that can assist with the grungier parts of writing Java and using class libraries and frameworks. Which editor or IDE will be the best fit for you depends on several things: the nature of your development projects, your role in the organization, your level of programming skills, the processes used by the development team, whether the team has standardized on tools, and, of course, your personal preference.


You would hope that an IDE supports the latest versions of your favorite JVM languages, including Java, Kotlin, Scala, and Groovy. You'd want it to support the most popular application servers and Java frameworks, such as Apache Tomcat, Spring, JavaServer Faces, Struts, GWT (Google Web Toolkit), Play, Wicket, Grails, Dropwizard, ATG, Spark, Hadoop, and Vaadin. A workable IDE should support whatever build and version control systems your group uses, such as Ant, Maven, and Gradle, along with Git, SVN, CVS, Mercurial, and Bazaar. For extra credit, your IDE should be able to handle the client and database layers of your stack, including JavaServer Pages, Embedded JavaScript, TypeScript, and HTML on the client side and Hibernate, JPA, and SQL for the data layer.


Syntax coloring and simple code completion are a given for Java editors. IDEA goes beyond that to provide smart completion and chain completion. Smart completion means the IDE can pop up a list of the most relevant symbols applicable in the current context, ranked by your personal frequency of use. Chain completion offers a list of applicable symbols that are accessible via methods or getters in the current context. It also completes static members or constants, automatically adding any needed import statements. In all code completions, IDEA tries to guess the runtime symbol type, refine its choices from that, and add class casts as needed.


IntelliJ IDEA analyzes your code when it loads, and when you type. It offers inspections to point out possible problems (shown in Figure 1) and, if you wish, a list of quick fixes to the detected problem.


Eclipse supports debugging both locally and remotely, assuming that you are using a Java virtual machine that supports remote debugging. Debugging is fairly standard: you typically set breakpoints and then view variables in a tab of the debugging perspective. You can, of course, step through your code and evaluate expressions.


Built using the Java code editor and dev tools from IntelliJ IDEA, Android Studio includes a range of Android app-specific features like a fast emulator, code templates, GitHub integration, linter for performance and version issues, integrated support for GCP (Google Cloud Platform), and the ability to apply changes to your app without having to restart it.


A Java IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a coding tool that can help you boost your productivity via various features like debugging, code completion, refactoring, syntax highlighting, and more.


Choosing the best IDE for Java development can be quite tasking as you have to find one that works best for you, is easy to install and use, and includes all of the features needed for your project. However, if you follow the tips below, you should be able to choose the best IDE for your next Java development project.


Your skill level is an important factor in determining the IDE you choose to work with. As a beginner, you want something simple, quick, and easy to use to facilitate your learning process. This is because something more complex may confuse you and lead to more errors than solutions.


Another important factor is the kind of project you want to use the IDE for. Some IDE are best for web development, others for software development. Considering this can save you a lot of trouble later on. You can research the best IDE for whatever project you want to work on. You should also ensure that it includes all of the required features for your entire project.


Most importantly, the IDE you choose should be easy to understand and work with. You should investigate the difficulty level and see if it corresponds to your skills and experience. Some IDE are best for advanced and experienced developers due to their experience, while others are great for beginners and students.


CodeChef is a free online IDE that supports various programming languages such as C, C++, Python, and Ruby. It includes tutorials that can help you improve your programming skills and is appropriate for all skill levels.


It's time to write your first application! These detailed instructions are for users of the NetBeans IDE. The NetBeans IDE runs on the Java platform, which means that you can use it with any operating system for which there is a JDK available. These operating systems include Microsoft Windows, Solaris OS, Linux, and Mac OS X.


When you create an IDE project, you create an environment in which to build and run your applications. Using IDE projects eliminates configuration issues normally associated with developing on the command line. You can build or run your application by choosing a single menu item within the IDE.


The IDE invokes the Java programming language compiler (javac), which takes your source file and translates its text into instructions that the Java virtual machine can understand. The instructions contained within this file are known as bytecodes.


If you don't see JDK 8 (which might appear as 1.8 or 1.8.0) in the list of installed platforms, click Add Platform, navigate to your JDK 8 install directory, and click Finish. You should now see this newly added platform:


To set this JDK as the default for all projects, you can run the IDE with the --jdkhome switch on the command line, or by entering the path to the JDK in the netbeans_j2sdkhome property of your INSTALLATION_DIRECTORY/etc/netbeans.conf file.


If the build output concludes with the statement BUILD FAILED, you probably have a syntax error in your code. Errors are reported in the Output window as hyperlinked text. You double-click such a hyperlink to navigate to the source of an error. You can then fix the error and once again choose Run Build Project.


You can compile and run an individual file (as opposed to a whole project) using the IDE's Compile File (F9) and Run File (Shift-F6) commands. If you use the Run Main Project command, the IDE will run the file that the IDE associates as the main class of the main project. Therefore, if you create an additional class in your HelloWorldApp project and then try to run that file with the Run Main Project command, the IDE will run the HelloWorldApp file instead.


If you want to rename the node for a source file in the Projects window, choose Refactor from IDE's main menu. The IDE prompts you with the Rename dialog box to lead you through the options of renaming the class and the updating of code that refers to that class. Make the changes and click Refactor to apply the changes. This sequence of clicks might seem unnecessary if you have just a single class in your project, but it is very useful when your changes affect other parts of your code in larger projects.


Using a Java IDE can help developers to improve productivity, write better quality code, and make it easier to maintain and improve their code over time. Developers can create software applications, drivers, and utilities using the right IDEs, as IDEs allow efficient language syntax. However, choosing the right IDE is difficult because there are so many to choose from. So, here is the list of the top seven JAVA IDEs.


The kind of projects or apps being produced, the method the development team uses, the level and talents of individual programmers, and the role in the organization are all important considerations when choosing an IDE or editor.


then select Language: Java. From the Category: drop-down list, you can select from a wide range of customizable elements such as: the number of blank lines, the size of tabs and indentation, wrapping style, etc. You can preview your changes as you make them.


The easiest way to collapse a specific block of code is to double-click the gray line in the left-hand margin, the number of collapsed lines within the block are then displayed. You can quickly review the collapsed parts of your code by doing a mouse over the folded elements.


The editor helps you quickly complete or generate code through the "smart" code completion feature. Code completion is very useful when you want to fill in missing code, it allows you to look at the available options within the context of your application, and generates fragments of code when required. See below for examples of how to use code completion.


You can set code completion to pop-up an options list either automatically or, on an as-needed basis. In the Code Completion pane for Language: All Languages, select the Auto Popup Completion Window checkbox to invoke code completion automatically when you type certain characters. The default character for Language: Java is " . ", but you can add your own characters.


To add characters that will invoke code completion, select the Language: Java pane and type your characters in the Auto Popup Triggers for Java: field. The code completion list will pop-up every time you type one of your specified characters, simply select your desired option, hit return or "double-click", for it to be entered into your document. 2ff7e9595c


 
 
 

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