I’ve been a IntelliJ user since being introduced to it at version 6. Recently, the new version X (10) has been released and off course I installed it on my trusty Linux notebook.
I’m impressed. Whereas versions predating 9 where slow to startup, IntelliJ has become lightning fast. All indexing (which is fantastic once it’s done) is performed in the background, almost instantaneously allowing you to start coding. And I haven’t even started on mentioning some new features I really, really like:
- The new code completion. Completion as you type. No more Ctrl+Tab. Need I say more? This is going to shave off a few minutes every day, which is my only requirement before an upgrade.
- Android Maven projects are supported. In version 9, the Android support was already great, this was just the one thing I missed.
- Out of the box GitHub support
- Detachable source code tabs. Another good move towards dual screen developers. Dual screen coding in Java IDE’s is still subpar, but it’s getting there
- Enhanced Maven support. IntelliJ was already the best Maven IDE out there (sorry m2eclipse), it just got better. I really like the new POM refactors. There is still one thing annoying me: inserting a dependency in a POM containing a dependencyManagement section, still inserts the new dependency in the standard dependencies part. Luckily, the templates go a long way, but still.
- Great Spring Roo support. Now STS is really going to feel the pain.
- Spell checking in the commit comments. Sounds silly, but more than often necessary (take a look at the commit log at your company to see what I mean).
Jetbrains, you really delivered on this release. More than ever, you are my IDE of choice.
