Up until recently, I was pretty old school with how I write my code. Vim, baby. No code completion only syntax highlighting. I had used a couple IDEs back when I first started taking classes, but just found them cumbersome. For my software engineering class this semester and for my project next semester, I will have to use Eclipse. This gave me my first opportunity to use Subversion in a team environment as well. I must say, I was seriously missing out. Eclipse has been really fun to use and being able to check in code and keep track of changes has been invaluable. Now I’m subversioning all of my side projects. Overkill? Well, this way I can instantly sync between my laptop and my school linux machine. I use the school machine to run experiments since it’s running four 3 GHz processors whereas my laptop has only two 1.8’s.
Anyway, last night I decided to check out the new version of the NetBeans IDE (6.0). I had used it very briefly in the past and found it to be a slow resource hog. It’s still a hog, but runs fine on my laptop with 2 GB of RAM. Plus the new features are pretty awesome. Not only does it have code completion, but code suggestions and instant generation of get/set methods for your class variables. Also, like Eclipse, it has subversion support built-in.
Which IDE do you use? I’m admitting here and now to being a noob to the IDE world, so is there something better?
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11 December 2007 at 09:29:29
Chris
I use Visual Studio for C++ code. I find the search features invaluable since I work on large scale software that has been cobbled together over years by different people, some of whom are no longer with my company; often, I find things that make no sense and I have to track down where they get used. I would be hard pressed to do that efficiently in something like Emacs.
I’ve used Eclipse a bit too and I generally like it. It has a nice interactive run app built in that I find perfect for small tests.
I think there are two questions for an IDE:
1) How big are the programs you’re writing?
2) How many people will be contributing to the code base?
If the answers are “big” and “more than 2″, then a good IDE is crucial.
11 December 2007 at 10:49:55
Jason Adams
I’ve used Visual Studio in the past and it was quite nice. I’m doing straight java in linux for my research (with a few python scripts sprinkled in) so VS isn’t really an option for me. I agree with your assessment, though, a project of any size using only emacs or vi probably would not be wise… :)
19 December 2007 at 23:59:20
jhumphries
I use NetBeans 5.5 and Oracle JDeveloper 10G for Java development. I have read lots of great things about NetBeans 6.0, but I haven’t downloaded it yet. Generally, Oracle’s JDeveloper is much better for coding (better auto-complete, more intuitive and easier to use keyboard shortcuts, much faster and less of a memory hog, better feel), but it is missing some key features: mainly profiling and the Matisse UI designer. JDeveloper’s UI designer is OK, but it sucks compared to NetBeans’ Matisse. I also prefer JDeveloper’s way of storing IDE-specific project and workspace files (transparent and clutter-free). It also has pretty good CVS and Subversion integration.
23 December 2007 at 10:35:59
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