For someone coming from Visual Studio/C# background and wants to learn Java - Which should I get: Netbeans or Eclipse?

Question

I'm looking for the following:

1. A nice debugger that allows me to easily view variable values if I use breakpoints.

2. Works very nicely in Windows 7.

3. Has something similar to the Toolbox pane in Visual Studio.

4. Built in intellisense, and code completion with the TAB key.

5. Long term support. I mean something that will last and stay in active development for years. I don't want a pet project IDE that will stop developing in a year. I'm just learning so it'll be very dificult at first to switch IDE's.

I'm new so I don't really know which IDE provides what I need between the two. Any help?

Answer 1

Well, I switched from Eclipse to Visual Studio, and I use both just about every day.

I found it hard to get used to the little differences at first, but now I am proficient in both IDEs.

I can't speak to whether or not Netbeans would be easier to learn, but Eclipse shouldn't be hard at all.

Both IDEs will provide all of the features that you have listed, and you should be able to customize both of them to get them to work almost exactly like Visual Studio.

Answer 2

Why not try both and see which one suits your individual tastes more?

Answer 3

This is a common debate, and there are obviously merits on both sides (this might be better served as a community wiki page). I prefer Eclipse, but to answer your questions as well as I can briefly:

Works very nicely in Windows 7.

Both are fine.

Has something similar to the Toolbox pane in Visual Studio.

Sorry, not familiar. Neither are short on panes, though Eclipse has a richer cache of third party plugins that might give you the experience you want.

Built in intellisense, and code completion with the TAB key.

I believe both are Ctrl-Space by default. If you're working in Java in Eclipse, there's an automated pop-up after a half second delay each time you type a separator (.) character.

Long term support. I mean something that will last and stay in active development for >years. I don't want a pet project IDE that will stop developing in a year. I'm just >learning so it'll be very dificult at first to switch IDE's.

Both are very mature products. I'd imagine Eclipse's fortunes are a little more secure simply because NetBeans might experience some turbulence during the Oracle acquisition of Sun.

---

My only other comment is that it's always seemed to me that Netbeans had far nicer "click-and-go" project templates out of the box, while Eclipse offered richer third party library integrations and a better debugger.

Answer 4

Probably both will do. Personally, I'd rather use Netbeans, because it's easier to get started right-out-of-the box. Eclipse depends more on plugins.

Answer 5

Neither Intellij IDEA is the Cadillac of Java IDEs

Answer 6

Hi

So you want to learn Java and your first question is about which IDE to learn ? I suggest you look at BlueJ which is an IDE designed for people who want to learn Java. From my, I admit limited, experience with the IDEs you mention, BlueJ is the one which gets least in one's way when trying to learn Java as opposed to learning the IDE. Once you've exhausted BlueJ's capabilities there is an easy progression to NetBeans through a plug-in but you would probably not find it too difficult to step up to Eclipse instead.

Yes, I know you want to choose between Eclipse and NetBeans but BlueJ might be of interest.

Regards

Mark

Answer 7

Netbeans = Great out of box experiance

Eclipse = Highly customizable with plugins and (so I've heard) slightly better intellisence-like capabilities.

If possible, I'd say try both (despite the bandwidth problem). If you get basic Java Development versions, the sizes aren't that big (48 MB for NetBeans and 92 MB for Eclipse)

I personally prefer NetBean's in-built capabilities since I don't like having to install plugins to make my experience the way I want it (and not all Eclipse plugins are free) but most of my fellow java devs prefer Eclipse's simplicity and ease of use.

Answer 8

Hi,

I think you should try Intellij Idea, it the most powerful-intuitive java IDE I've never seen (http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/index.html). The new Community Edition is free and more than enough for java developpement. As it is highly configurable you can choose 'TAB' for auto completion, but I think you can learn from existing combinations that are well design.

Regards.

Answer 9

Java has some really nice IDEs available and many will do what you require.

I dont know you, but I use VS with Resharper so I m very used to those shortcuts, if you do too then have a look at IntelliJ ( they have a comunity edition) Otherwise you can get eclipse and get the IntelliJ keymap ( or try to get the default VS keymap)

Netbeans is nice too, but I had some problems with it ( ie didnt build, rancomly crashing, etc)

Also most offer Source Control integration ( in Eclipse you have many flavours of subversion for example)

I guess you ll have to play around and find what suits you Cheers

Answer 10

Both are find but if you want to build GUI's, Netbeans has the edge as it has a built in GUI builder, including a toolbox of controls to use with it.

Eclipse does not have a GUI builder. The commercial Eclipse distribution, MyEclipse does have a GUI builder - it's actually the one from Netbeans.