Choosing the right integrated development environment (IDE) for the Java programming language can have a significant impact on your productivity. After comparing the main competitors of NetBeans, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA and choosing the one that best suits your knowledge and needs, find the best IDE for you.
Getting started with Java is inextricably linked to choosing an IDE (integrated development environment). This is especially important for those new to programming, as the choice of IDE can have a significant impact on their workflow.
While there are over a dozen different Java IDEs in total, the largest and most powerful, and well supported by both developers and the community, are the three IDEs: NetBeans, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA. The rest of the competitors are significantly inferior in functionality, many are no longer supported, which is why they cannot meet the latest standards of such a rapidly developing programming language like Java. Let's dwell on each of the mentioned development environments in more detail.
NetBeans is developed with active support from Oracle, which also owns the Java rights. Thus, some of the Java technologies have first-hand support in NetBeans.
In terms of functionality, NetBeans is the simplest and most intuitive Java development environment of the top three. Without a doubt, we can recommend it for those who first encounter development environments and the Java programming language. Among the distinctive features of this IDE is the optimal setting of the environment "out of the box". Having installed this environment, the user gets excellent settings for the compiler and the development environment itself, an interface without unnecessary icons and menu items, there are only the most demanded and frequently used functions. Subsequently, of course, you can customize the interface for yourself. One can also note the convenient implementation of tasks, all the menus are very well structured and have clear names. Separately, we can note the ease of working with NetBeans due to the absence of the need to wander through endless menus and pop-up windows, which many other development environments suffer from. In most cases, when a user interacts with the NetBeans environment, it automatically suggests the best settings for the job. Thus, even if a novice user does not fully understand what the environment asks him about, clicking "OK", it is almost impossible to harm his work. Installation of additional environment components / plug-ins (plug-in) is done in one click. There is good support for version control systems (VCS) as well as an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) development subsystem. NetBeans is available for free.
In summary, the NetBeans IDE is an intuitive and easy-to-use development environment. It's easy to understand when starting out with NetBeans and also easy to learn to use at an advanced level. In addition, the style of NetBeans user interaction is such that you can quickly learn the Java language itself, if you use the hints built into the environment, whether it be Javadoc documentation or recommendations for correcting mistakes / potential errors.
Eclipse is an integrated development environment originally created by IBM and has been among the leaders since its inception. Eclipse, however, is not only Java-specific, but the general-purpose Eclipse Platform, which affects its functionality. The most suitable assembly for working with Java Eclipse is available under the name Eclipse IDE for Java Developers.
The hallmark of Eclipse is its almost unlimited customizability and extensibility. For novice users, however, this can cause problems. So out of the box, the Eclipse interface contains too many rarely used functions, has confusing and non-intuitive menus, Eclipse is known for its endless dialog boxes that require the user to enter a large amount of information or simply overloaded information that he needs to familiarize himself with. The plugin installation system can also seem confusing. The systems for working with version control and user interface development are at the middle level. Eclipse is also available for free.
Among the advantages of the Eclipse IDE can be noted support for almost any existing Java technology, as well as minor technologies, without which programmers can not do. With enough experience, Eclipse can be customized to an incredible degree to suit your needs. For new users, this will only be an obstacle to effective work, since one should not expect great intuitiveness and simplicity from a general-purpose environment.
IntelliJ IDEA, created by JetBrains, was the first complete integrated development environment ever built. Unlike the IDEs described above, Intellij IDEA is available in the free Community Edition version and the paid version - Ultimate. For a novice developer, the free version contains all the necessary functionality and can be considered a full-fledged IDE.
Now IDEA is getting more and more supporters and positive reviews, being, as its slogan says, a "smart" development environment. Intellij IDEA is extremely understandable, easy to use, supports most modern technologies, has one of the most convenient version control systems. There is absolutely no overload in it: a minimum of dialog boxes and only the necessary information are displayed to the user. There is an extensive hotkey system that allows you to quickly perform a large number of non-trivial functions. In terms of ease of use, IntelliJ IDEA definitely stands on a level above the competition, since being a "smart" environment, it always knows the user's intentions, prompting / helping him in his work and saving a lot of time and effort. As such, IntelliJ IDEA does not have any drawbacks, for a beginner, however, the GUI development system can be difficult, since it will require from the user at least a minimum set of knowledge about building a GUI in Java.
To summarize, the following points should be made. For those new to Java and IDEs, NetBeans is the perfect choice. For people with at least minimal Java knowledge, NetBeans or IntelliJ IDEA will do. For those who have the desire and ability to spend some time getting to know and configure the environment, and also want to completely customize the environment for themselves, you can recommend Eclipse.
