Re: [ide-dev] Java IDEs comparison

[Carsten Reckord <reckord@xxxxxxxx>]

> It's surprising how the code completion of IntelliJ (checking target type,
> frequency of calls, chain completion...) is still listed as better than
> the one in Eclipse IDE. Wasn't Code Recommender providing that in all
> Java-based packages?

I don't have empirical evidence, just my subjective impression, but one problem with completion that I frequently encounter in Eclipse and that IJ seems to get better is the local context that I'm working in. If there are a dozen proposals for the current completion, we often don't have to look as far as global frequency, chains and all that:

Just prefer the type that is already imported in the current class over the one that isn't, the type or variable that I've used in the line just above where I'm asking for completion over other applicable ones, the method in my current class over some external type proposal, etc.

> Also, it's strange that IJ is congratulated for its "Polyglot
> development", where the Eclipse ecosystem has a much better offering. The
> reason is probably that people compare IDEs as they're shipped, not
> ecosystem.

In general, the IJ people shine in two "polyglot" areas here:

1. Consistency: editors and tools look and work the same across languages, whereas there are many (small but annoying) UX differences between different editors and language scopes in Eclipse.
2. Cross-Language features: I haven't tried this in Neon, but before, navigating between artifacts of different languages, getting usages etc was just way more seamless in IJ.

But I hope with the new extensible editors and the language server initiative this is about to improve dramatically :)