Stephen Saunders

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Recent posts by Stephen Saunders

I'm sorry, Sunil, I didn't answer because I have no idea when it will reach the Indian market. I do know the PDF version is available online, but can't speak about the location or timings of the printed copies.

Cheers,
Stephen
The chapter on version control primarily introduces two things: how to configure and work with a third-party VCS, and a look at IDEA's own local history. We chose to illustrate the former using CVS as the example. We do mention CVS, VSS, StarTeam, Perforce, and Subversion in the text (in fact, I think we have a screenshot or two of the VSS and StarTeam config screens), but mapping each one was really covering the same ground multiple times and not the focus of the material.

Plugin development is not covered in the book at all, in part because it is not a skill that a typical IDEA end-user needs to use to effectively put the tool to use day-to-day, and in part because there wasn't room for it. Based on some of the feedback I've received since publication, there is definitely interest in articles, value-adds, or new chapters devoted to IDEA plugin development.

Cheers,
Stephen
The official answer comes from the copy on the back of the book:

For new users, this book is a logically organized and clearly expressed introduction to a big subject. For veterans, it is also an invaluable guide to the expert techniques they need to know to draw a lot more power out of this incredible tool. Your get a broad overview and a deep understanding of the features in IDEA.

Let me also suppliment with my personal opinion, and detail two groups I feel could glean major benefit from the book.

One: developers learning IntelliJ IDEA for the first time. For the developer who's hesitant to play with a new IDE, the book gives a comprehensive overview of all the major features that most developers find useful on a day-to-day basis. They can walk through the sample exercise - a simple currency converter application - and get a holistic understanding of project scructure and management, building, running, debugging, unit testing, J2EE integration, web app front-end development, version control integration, etc. If they're not familiar with an IDE yet, it's an introduction; if they are familiar with NetBeans or Eclipse, the book illustrates some solid features for comparison.

Two: senior developers who need a reference into specific features. For the developer who's comfortable working in IDEA already, we've covered in each chapter a breadth of features that you might not have run into organically. I know Duane and I used the editor for the better part of two years, and were constantly asking each other, "What was that? What did you just do there?" as we saw new menu options or key combinations that we had never personally used before. As a final example... if you've done a lot of J2EE work, but never used IDEA's GUI builder, the book would be a very handy reference for ramping up on it quickly.

Cheers,
Stephen
There might well be more plug-ins for Eclipse than IntelliJ IDEA. I've never seen numbers or statistics.

In my experience, every enterprise Java developer I know who has fairly tried both Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA for a time has gravitated to IDEA. It just features a wide array of features that are useful, intelligent, and easy to use. Everyone will form their own opinion based on their own personal needs, of course, but in my experience, the results have shown a distinct tendency.

Remember too that Eclipse is not solely an IDE, but also a framework, and has its own merits (and plugins) on that front.

Cheers,
Stephen
IntelliJ IDEA does have a built-in 'local history', but it wasn't designed to replace a traditional version control system. It's a companion tool that allows you, as a developer, to operate using personal version control on a much more fine grained scale than simply every 'check-in' or 'commit'.

Version control systems support shared access, and store changes on a more permanent basis for a variety of reasons.

IDEA does, however, have very tight, seamless support for most major version control systems through its plugins. It can make management of, and working in, a specific VCS almost invisible to the end user.

Cheers,
Stephen
I may be a bit biased, but I can honestly say that I have never met an enterprise Java software engineer who, having used Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA as IDEs, chose to work in Eclipse on a day-to-day basis. IDEA has always won out.

Cheers,
Stephen