Things possible in IntelliJ that arent possible in Eclipse

Switching IDEs can feel like changing your entire development workflow. If you’re considering migrating from Eclipse to IntelliJ IDEA, you’re in for a treat. IntelliJ offers a plethora of features and functionalities that streamline development, boost productivity, and simply make coding more enjoyable. This post explores key differences, highlighting things possible in IntelliJ that aren’t possible (or as easily achieved) in Eclipse, ultimately helping you decide if making the switch is right for you. From intelligent code completion to advanced refactoring and debugging capabilities, we’ll delve into the specifics of what makes IntelliJ stand out.

Intelligent Code Completion and Refactoring

IntelliJ IDEA’s code completion goes beyond basic syntax suggestions. It understands the context of your code and offers highly relevant suggestions, including method parameters, variable names, and even entire code blocks. This significantly speeds up development and reduces errors. Refactoring in IntelliJ is also far more powerful. It allows for complex refactorings like renaming across multiple files and introducing new variables or methods with minimal manual effort. While Eclipse offers refactoring, IntelliJ’s implementation is generally considered more robust and intuitive.

For instance, consider renaming a class used throughout a large project. In IntelliJ, a simple shortcut initiates the renaming process, automatically updating all references across the project. In Eclipse, this same task often requires multiple steps and confirmations, increasing the risk of errors.

Built-in Tools and Integrations

IntelliJ IDEA boasts a rich set of built-in tools and integrations that streamline development workflows. Version control systems like Git are seamlessly integrated, allowing you to commit, branch, and merge changes directly from the IDE. Built-in debuggers, profilers, and database tools provide comprehensive support for the entire software development lifecycle. Eclipse relies more heavily on plugins for these functionalities, which can lead to compatibility issues and inconsistencies in user experience. IntelliJ’s comprehensive suite provides a more unified and efficient environment.

Imagine needing to debug a complex application. IntelliJ provides a robust debugger with features like breakpoints, variable inspection, and step-by-step execution, all within the same environment. In Eclipse, similar functionality often requires configuring and integrating separate debugging plugins.

Enhanced Build System and Dependency Management

IntelliJ IDEA provides excellent support for build systems like Maven and Gradle, offering tight integration and simplified dependency management. Its intuitive interface allows developers to easily manage dependencies, build projects, and run tests. While Eclipse supports these build systems, IntelliJ’s integration is typically smoother and more visually appealing, simplifying complex project configurations. This streamlined approach saves developers time and effort, especially when working on large projects with numerous dependencies.

For example, adding a new library to your project in IntelliJ is often as simple as searching for it within the IDE and clicking a button. This process in Eclipse might involve manually editing configuration files and resolving dependencies, which can be more error-prone.

User Interface and Customization

IntelliJ IDEA’s modern and customizable user interface enhances productivity. Its sleek design minimizes distractions and allows developers to focus on coding. The IDE offers a wide range of themes, keyboard shortcuts, and plugins to personalize the development environment. While Eclipse has made strides in improving its UI, IntelliJ’s interface is widely praised for its intuitiveness and ease of use. This improved user experience contributes to greater developer efficiency and satisfaction.

Consider a developer who prefers a dark theme and a specific set of keyboard shortcuts. IntelliJ allows for easy customization of these aspects, creating a personalized and comfortable coding environment. While some customization is possible in Eclipse, IntelliJ offers a greater degree of flexibility.

Superior code completion and refactoring
Integrated tools and version control

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Featured Snippet: IntelliJ excels with its deep understanding of code context, providing intelligent code completion and refactoring capabilities that significantly surpass those found in Eclipse.

Want to learn more about maximizing your development workflow? Check out this resource on IntelliJ IDEA Tips and Tricks.

Learn more about build tools: Maven

FAQ

Q: Is IntelliJ IDEA free?

A: IntelliJ IDEA offers both a free Community Edition and a paid Ultimate Edition. The Ultimate Edition provides more advanced features for enterprise development.

Making the switch to a new IDE can seem daunting, but the productivity gains and streamlined development experience offered by IntelliJ IDEA are often well worth the effort. From intelligent code assistance to powerful refactoring tools and seamless integrations, IntelliJ empowers developers to write better code more efficiently. While Eclipse remains a viable option, IntelliJ’s feature set caters to a more modern development workflow. If you’re seeking a more powerful and intuitive development environment, exploring IntelliJ IDEA is a step you won’t regret. Consider downloading the free Community Edition to experience the difference firsthand. You might just find your new favorite coding companion.

Question & Answer :

I have heard from people who have switched either way and who swear by the one or the other.

Being a huge Eclipse fan but having not had the time to try out IntelliJ, I am interested in hearing from IntelliJ users who are “ex-Eclipsians” some specific things that you can do with IntelliJ that you can not do with Eclipse.

Note: This is not a subjective question nor at all meant to turn into an IDE holy war. Please downvote any flamebait answers.

CTRL-click works anywhere

CTRL-click that brings you to where clicked object is defined works everywhere - not only in Java classes and variables in Java code, but in Spring configuration (you can click on class name, or property, or bean name), in Hibernate (you can click on property name or class, or included resource), you can navigate within one click from Java class to where it is used as Spring or Hibernate bean; clicking on included JSP or JSTL tag also works, ctrl-click on JavaScript variable or function brings you to the place it is defined or shows a menu if there are more than one place, including other .js files and JS code in HTML or JSP files.

Autocomplete for many languagues

Hibernate

Autocomplete in HSQL expressions, in Hibernate configuration (including class, property and DB column names), in Spring configuration

<property name="propName" ref="<hit CTRL-SPACE>"

and it will show you list of those beans which you can inject into that property.

Java

Very smart autocomplete in Java code:

interface Person { String getName(); String getAddress(); int getAge(); } //--- Person p; String name = p.<CTRL-SHIFT-SPACE>

and it shows you ONLY getName(), getAddress() and toString() (only they are compatible by type) and getName() is first in the list because it has more relevant name. Latest version 8 which is still in EAP has even more smart autocomplete.

interface Country{ } interface Address { String getStreetAddress(); String getZipCode(); Country getCountry(); } interface Person { String getName(); Address getAddress(); int getAge(); } //--- Person p; Country c = p.<CTRL-SHIFT-SPACE>

and it will silently autocomplete it to

Country c = p.getAddress().getCountry();

Javascript

Smart autocomplete in JavaScript.

function Person(name,address) { this.getName = function() { return name }; this.getAddress = function() { return address }; } Person.prototype.hello = function() { return "I'm " + this.getName() + " from " + this.get<CTRL-SPACE>; }

and it shows ONLY getName() and getAddress(), no matter how may get* methods you have in other JS objects in your project, and ctrl-click on this.getName() brings you to where this one is defined, even if there are some other getName() functions in your project.

HTML

Did I mention autocomplete and ctrl-clicking in paths to files, like <script src="", <img src="", etc?

Autocomplete in HTML tag attributes. Autocomplete in style attribute of HTML tags, both attribute names and values. Autocomplete in class attributes as well.
Type <div class="<CTRL-SPACE> and it will show you list of CSS classes defined in your project. Pick one, ctrl-click on it and you will be redirected to where it is defined.

Easy own language higlighting

Latest version has language injection, so you can declare that you custom JSTL tag usually contains JavaScript and it will highlight JavaScript inside it.

<ui:obfuscateJavaScript>function something(){...}</ui:obfuscateJavaScript>

Indexed search across all project.

You can use Find Usages of any Java class or method and it will find where it is used including not only Java classes but Hibernate, Spring, JSP and other places. Rename Method refactoring renames method not only in Java classes but anywhere including comments (it can not be sure if string in comments is really method name so it will ask). And it will find only your method even if there are methods of another class with same name. Good source control integration (does SVN support changelists? IDEA support them for every source control), ability to create a patch with your changes so you can send your changes to other team member without committing them.

Improved debugger

When I look at HashMap in debugger’s watch window, I see logical view - keys and values, last time I did it in Eclipse it was showing entries with hash and next fields - I’m not really debugging HashMap, I just want to look at it contents.

Spring & Hibernate configuration validation

It validates Spring and Hibernate configuration right when you edit it, so I do not need to restart server to know that I misspelled class name, or added constructor parameter so my Spring cfg is invalid.

Last time I tried, I could not run Eclipse on Windows XP x64.

and it will suggest you person.name or person.address. Ctrl-click on person.name and it will navigate you to getName() method of Person class.

Type Pattern.compile(""); put \\ there, hit CTRL-SPACE and see helpful hint about what you can put into your regular expression. You can also use language injection here - define your own method that takes string parameter, declare in IntelliLang options dialog that your parameter is regular expression - and it will give you autocomplete there as well. Needless to say it highlights incorrect regular expressions.

Other features

There are few features which I’m not sure are present in Eclipse or not. But at least each member of our team who uses Eclipse, also uses some merging tool to merge local changes with changes from source control, usually WinMerge. I never need it - merging in IDEA is enough for me. By 3 clicks I can see list of file versions in source control, by 3 more clicks I can compare previous versions, or previous and current one and possibly merge.

It allows to to specify that I need all .jars inside WEB-INF\lib folder, without picking each file separately, so when someone commits new .jar into that folder it picks it up automatically.

Mentioned above is probably 10% of what it does. I do not use Maven, Flex, Swing, EJB and a lot of other stuff, so I can not tell how it helps with them. But it does.