To IDE or not to IDE?
January 27th, 2003
I stumbled over HotLinks Ednote: 10 Reasons to Dump Your Java IDE (via AcroYear). All good reasons why not to use JBuilder, NetBeans, and what else. But nothing that stops you from using Eclipse. Basically, the author's comments only go for GUI development IMO, not for "IDE"s that have auto-completion, "Show declaration", "Extract method", "Rename method", and even ctrl-Q!
April 21st, 2008 at 10:16 PM Well, there's a difference between a code-generation IDE (that generates repetative, unmaintainable, vendor-locked-down code) and a refactoring-supporting IDE. Personally, I find myself annoyed that the only way to use a refactoring tool is to use it inside an IDE, and since I don't keep my files in IDE projects, it means importing them all, doing the refactoring, then removing the project info (since with the next change I make outside the IDE, the "project" gets out of sync). I currently just do my refactorings by hand. Error prone and tedious, but not as tedious as having to learn all the ins and outs of an IDE to use one feature that's an add-on to the thing in the first place. I want a refactoring tool that just does stuff as-is without needing to be part of some larger thing. anybody got one?
April 21st, 2008 at 10:16 PM Have you tried Eclipse (http://www.eclipse.org)? You can change everything you want outside Eclipse. The project will sync itself the next time you start Eclipse, or when you press "refresh". I know what you're talking about: those are exactly my reasons why I don't like to use JBuilder etc. But I don't have those itches with Eclipse (and not with IDEA either, I presume, although I've only used it for a couple of days). As for the manual method: in the past, I used to think "Oh, that method name should be changed. Mmmh, it's used in a gazillion places. I'll just leave it for now." Now I press "rename method", and everything happens automatically. Just to say that my IDE fixes things caused by my laziness. That said, I guess it's all a matter of taste. I know guys who are forced to work on Windows, and are using a Windows version of vi to get their work done. I don't think their morons or something. I have to say, I admire the way they use and manage 46 clipboards and all. It's just not my cup of tea. If it is yours, all due respect.
April 21st, 2008 at 10:16 PM Can't understand why does people forced to "vi on Windows" convert to Xemacs and Xref (http://www.xref-tech.com/) for a full Java refactoring environment...