Both Eclipse 3.0 and IntelliJ IDEA 4 are feature-rich, Java IDEs that provide syntax checking, code assistance, and code generation for coding. In addition, they both provide support for refactoring, Ant, unit testing, and CVS. And soon, the Eclipse Visual Editor 1.0 for building GUIs using either AWT/Swing or SWT will be available. But some important differences exist between the two. This article briefly compares the features, ease of use, and stability of Eclipse and IDEA.
Evaluating Eclipse vs. IntelliJ IDEA
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Eclipse is more than IDE. I’m using today for write GUI programs, Enterprise apps and as a workbench for a commercial application (I can safe a lot of programming with eclipse license).
At this time, I´m beginning to use as c/c++ IDE for many programs that I write for linux.
Eclipse is an amazing IDE, tool, API, basic workbench, etc, etc, etc. Not only for java
The article is not a valid evaluation but rather a sales pitch for Eclipse, describing various things you can in Eclipse with high detail and mentioning the Idea from time to time to keep the illusion of an evaluation. I’d rather have liked to hear about the differences of the IDEs besides different keybindings for similar features.
Netbeans has had a GUI for some time. Yet somehow the fact that Eclipse will soon have one is news.
… in their own ways.
Eclipse’s coverage is unbeatable
IntelliJ’s *smooth* feel and operation is unbeatable
NetBean’s will to live and ability to go from “shit” to “cool” in 2 releases is unbeatable
I think we are lucky as hell to have all these great choices!
I really like Eclipse. I’m just a young student of Java, but have found it to be really good in speeding up development time. However, I find it tends to be a little slow at times — especially since I have more than 5 projects, and especially when the inline insertion help is loading (e.g. when you type System. <– the dot triggers a list of the available things System can do. Eclipse tends to be a bit on the slow side when that happens).
I was sort of hoping this article would have presented a valid discussion. I like Eclipse, but the slowness is sort of getting on my nerves. I tired Xcode, but it’s a step back from Eclipse in Java at least (imo).
“Netbeans has had a GUI for some time. Yet somehow the fact that Eclipse will soon have one is news.”
eclipse is a gui editor right from the start. dont talk crap
How can you compair these 2 products??? Intellij is pure java development IDE with paying from your pocket! While Eclipse is not only Free IDE but its extensible nature takes the IDE even further! We are extending Eclipse way further and are using Eclipse for genrating XML and XSD files!
Infact one should compair Netbeans Vs Intellij that makes more sence.
With the autocompletion (System. fill in), it’s only slow because by default it’s set to wait 500 ms.
If you set it to like 10, it’s much faster. The options is in preferences somewhere.
I thought the same thing until I found the option.
Am I the only one that noticed that the article was from September 2004 and was covered in a similar article from ibm here:
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8229
These are PR pieces by IBM but, IMO, I did read each of them and appreciated them for the differences in the products that each article brings to light. I am an Eclipse user and really enjoy it as a Java IDE, but I know everyone has their own preferences.
Still this is old news and should not have slipped thru the moderators at OSNews.
Eclipse hasn’t had a GUI editor until the VEP was completed recently. On the other hand, Netbeans has had a GUI editor for as far back as I can remember.
[quote] However, I find it tends to be a little slow at times — especially since I have more than 5 projects [/quote]
you probably know this already, but if you aren’t using files from every project, you can close them by right clicking the project in ‘package explorer’ and ‘close project’. otherwise, you can try creating working sets thusly:
http://javalobby.org/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=15162&tstart=30
[quote]…especially when the inline insertion help is loading [/quote]
yeah the code assist can be slow at times, loading every possible method. a solution you can try is turning the code assist off and launching it only when you need it. to do this, go to the eclipse preferences (Window>Preferences) and uncheck the ‘Auto Activation’ for the code assist (Java>Editor>Code Assist). to launch code assist manually while you are programming, press CTRL+ENTER.