Who’s On Phirst

Switching IDE's has always been something I feel is important to keep an open mind about. I learned this early on when I was an emacs fanatic. I started software development in a Unix/C environment where emacs and vi were the two editors of choice (or debate). Despite all of the vi/emacs wars , my experience was that both came in handy, but at different times.

I recently feel this way about Netbeans vs Eclipse in the Java IDE world. Both IDE's contribute different tools to a Java developer that are extremely useful.

Let's take Eclipse for example. I like Eclipse's efficiency. Everything takes less clicks! In addition, the SWT toolkit still feels and performs better than any Java application out there. Netbeans continues to have small quirks about it that cause discomfort for the user because the application does not behave as a normal native application. Something as simple as managing the cursor in the code does not feel natural to me. So, the “Everyday IDE” still goes to Eclipse.

On the flip side, Netbeans has far more integrated tools and wizards than Eclipse. Netbeans has a rich set of wizards and tools for mobility, J2EE, Web development etc. Moreover, the Java Profiler is excellent! The best part about Netbeans is that it is one coherent tool from a single vendor. The “Most Complete IDE” goes to NetBeans.

Netbeans Visual Development tools are the first visual tools for Java I can say I enjoyed. The best part is the ability to integrate manually written code with the visual designer and vice-versa. In addition, the visual designer generates simple code. The generated code is straightforward Java that anyone unfamiliar with the visual tools would understand. The “Most Innovative IDE” goes to NetBeans for finally giving Java a set of useful visual tools.

Eclipse has a one big leg up on Netbeans. Eclipse RCP is a fantastic development framework. It is rich in features and has a unifying effect on product development. Anyone thinking about developing a desktop application should seriously consider Eclipse RCP. The “Best Application Development IDE” goes to Eclipse because you should be developing RCP applications in that case.

In conclusion, just as vi and emacs both brought different ideas as an editor, it is worth the effort to learn both. You will find that rather wasting your time arguing for one or the other, you just have more tools in you tool chest since you tried them both!