Eclipse vs NetBeans.

[Susan Smith]

Hi,

I'm a Java programmer and using JCreator as my IDE.
I'm considering changing to NetBeans or Eclipse.

Could someone please advise what are the advantages and disadvantages of each IDE in big picture?
Is one better than the other? Or it depends?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Nrapendra Sharma]

Hi i am using eclipse for last 18 month
and according to me eclipse is a better option then netbeans.. Development using eclipse is very fast ,debugging of code is very easy and most importantly support(online and offline both) for eclipse is very good.
I think you should go with eclipse.

Regards,
Nrapendra Sharma

[Susan Smith]

How easy it is to develop using web framework in Eclipse? I saw the documentation. They have a very straight forward way to use framework.
http://www.netbeans.org/kb/61/web/quickstart-webapps-spring.html

[Jesper de Jong]

Eclipse and NetBeans are both great IDEs, there isn't one that's clearly better than the other - the choice mainly comes down to personal preference. I use Eclipse everyday at work, but I've also played with NetBeans and I was pleasantly surprised at how good it is.

If you have the choice, I'd recommend taking some time to try them both out and see what works best for you.

Both Eclipse and NetBeans are based on platforms that you can use the write your own applications (Eclipse Rich Client Platform and Netbeans Platform). Note that NetBeans is based on Swing (the standard Java GUI library), while Eclipse has its own GUI library (SWT = Standard Widget Toolkit).

[Susan Smith]

I see. Thanks.

Which ones do you think is more easy to understand and get start with?
Perhaps I should try with that one first.

[Ernest Friedman-Hill]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: IntelliJ IDEA tops both of the free options.

[Jeffry Kristianto Yanuar]

I've said it before and I'll say it again: IntelliJ IDEA tops both of the free options.

Why ? Can I get it for free ? I just want to use it to learn Java

Currently I use Netbeans 6.5. Netbeans 6.5 is a superb IDE.

Jeffry Kristianto Yanuar (Java Instructor)
SCJP 5.0, SCJA, SCJD (UrlyBird 1.3.2) --> Waiting for the result

[Gregg Bolinger]

My daddy can whoop your daddy. That's more or less what these threads come down to. In the olden days (5 years ago maybe) there were actually significant differences to discuss. Now its just user preference. Try them out. Pick one.

I use IntelliJ IDEA. I work on projects with folks using IDEA, Netbeans, Eclipse and even plain jane text editors. Everyone gets their shizz done.

[Hussein Baghdadi]

No, IntelliJ isn't free to use but it worth every penny you pay for.

[Susan Smith]

I'm wondering if this could be important factor to be considered: Let say most companies look for proficiency in using Eclipse then isn't it better to learn Eclipse rather than NetBeans.

[Roland Maurer]

In the first years I switched often between Visual cafe, jbuilder, eclipse, netbeans. in the last five years I used eclipse as my one and only IDE.
In our office are about 10 java developers a lot of them work with java for more then 10 years, there is no must to use one IDE -> but we all use ECLIPSE, don't know why. one reason will be that we all like free software, so I was never trying IntelliJ

I worked on win, linux and now on mac .. over the last ten years for me eclipse did the best job !
but I'm sure that there are people who tell you the opposite -> because it depends on your personal preference

As mac user I feel something like the SWT from eclipse is faster on mac but maybe more buggy than the NetBeans based on Swing

[Gregg Bolinger]

Originally posted by Susan Smith:
I'm wondering if this could be important factor to be considered: Let say most companies look for proficiency in using Eclipse then isn't it better to learn Eclipse rather than NetBeans.

If a company is hiring based on IDE experience, find another company to work for. They need to get their priorities in check. I'm not saying a company shouldn't adopt a single IDE for their employees, I'm just saying that there are more important things to consider when hiring...