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  1. Stackups
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  4. IDE
  5. IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio

IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Visual Studio
Visual Studio
Stacks59.6K
Followers37.9K
Votes1.1K
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Stacks44.0K
Followers36.9K
Votes1.5K

IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio: What are the differences?

Comparison between IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio

IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio are two popular integrated development environments (IDEs) used by software developers for coding and building applications. While both IDEs provide a comprehensive set of features, there are key differences that set them apart:

  1. User Interface: IntelliJ IDEA has a cleaner and more organized interface compared to Visual Studio. It provides a minimalist design that allows developers to focus on their code without distractions. On the other hand, Visual Studio has a more complex and cluttered interface with numerous toolbars and panels that may overwhelm new users.

  2. Language Support: IntelliJ IDEA offers better language support for Java and Kotlin, making it the preferred choice for Java development. It provides advanced code analysis, refactoring, and debugging capabilities specific to these languages. Visual Studio, on the other hand, is more versatile and supports a wide range of programming languages including C++, C#, and JavaScript, making it suitable for multi-language projects.

  3. Code Completion and Navigation: IntelliJ IDEA excels in code completion and navigation features. It provides intelligent suggestions, auto-completion, and quick navigation to classes, methods, and variables. Visual Studio also offers these features but may not be as efficient as IntelliJ IDEA, especially when working with large codebases.

  4. Build and Deployment Tools: Visual Studio has more advanced build and deployment tools compared to IntelliJ IDEA. It provides seamless integration with Azure and other Microsoft services, making it easier to deploy and manage applications in a Microsoft ecosystem. IntelliJ IDEA lacks the same level of integration and may require additional configurations for deployment to specific platforms.

  5. Plugin Ecosystem: IntelliJ IDEA has a robust plugin ecosystem, offering a wide range of third-party plugins to enhance its functionalities. These plugins can be easily installed and provide additional features for specific use cases. While Visual Studio also has a plugin ecosystem, it is not as extensive as IntelliJ IDEA and may lack certain niche plugins.

  6. Pricing and Licensing: IntelliJ IDEA offers both free and paid versions, with the Ultimate edition providing advanced features for enterprise development. Visual Studio, on the other hand, has different editions based on usage scenarios, with pricing varying accordingly. The Community edition of Visual Studio is free for individuals and small teams, while the Professional and Enterprise editions require paid licenses.

In summary, IntelliJ IDEA is the go-to IDE for Java and Kotlin development, providing a clean interface, excellent language support, and efficient code completion. Visual Studio, on the other hand, is a versatile IDE that supports multiple languages, offers advanced build and deployment tools, and integrates seamlessly with the Microsoft ecosystem. The choice between them depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the developer or development team.

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Advice on Visual Studio, IntelliJ IDEA

Jonas
Jonas

Jun 22, 2022

Decided

When I work with Java, I use IntelliJ IDEA. When I want super-b Refactoring and Search/Replace Functionality, I use IntelliJ.

When working on anything else, I've chosen to adopt Visual Studio Code - a IDE that implements many features important and interesting to the developer experience and doesn't make me miss many things from Jetbrains while being so lightweight that I install it everywhere, even when I would've just wanted to install Notepad++.

I install it everywhere, and if it's my machine, I sign into my GitHub Account to sync all Extensions and Settings and unlock all GitHub seamlessness-capabilities.

The browser-only capability is awesome and allows for extremely seamless and fast ad-hoc development from anywhere just by signing in to GitHub.

I only really use the GUI/Side-Bar Tools "Project Manager", "GitLens", "Git Graph" and "Git History". But i do have installed many other Developer Experience changing extensions as well. For the interested, you can take a look at my VS Code Extensions I documented over at my GitHub

[Addendum 2022/08] I recently found out about that VSCode also has Live Share Extension, similiar to the one Jetbrains added in one of the newer versions. Very neat and nicely implemented over SSH too. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/liveshare/


My Jetbrains History:

IntelliJ is an awesome tool. It does everything for you, without even noticing - i.e. automatic Gradle dependency installation or adding Gradle dependencies through GUI.

I really got to use most Shortcuts and enjoyed the Weekly Tips.

I can't emphasize enough how well it's Quick Fixes and Refactoring work.

It allows you to generate all kinds of boilerplate (e.g. Getter/Setter/Constructor, toString, JavaDoc). It has a ByteCode Previewer. It has an awesome Debugger.

Also: During my 4 years in apprentice as an IT-Technician in which I also worked on some Grails (Spring) Projects it also was nice that IntelliJ IDEA ULTIMATE, which I got for free thanks to an all-time available offer for students, had Grails-aware functionality. The primary functionality I'm talking about is the ability to automatically generate a graphical database diagram for by a click on the Domain Class. Experimenting with this I quickly understood all the Relation Database Paradigms and how to implement them with GORM, or how GORM translates to database through IntelliJ's Database Tab Integration.

70.6k views70.6k
Comments
christy
christy

Program Manager

Jul 1, 2020

Needs adviceonPythonPythonEclipseEclipseIntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ IDEA

UPDATE: Thanks for the great response. I am going to start with VSCode based on the open source and free version that will allow me to grow into other languages, but not cost me a license ..yet.

I have been working with software development for 12 years, but I am just beginning my journey to learn to code. I am starting with Python following the suggestion of some of my coworkers. They are split between Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA for IDEs that they use and PyCharm is new to me. Which IDE would you suggest for a beginner that will allow expansion to Java, JavaScript, and eventually AngularJS and possibly mobile applications?

2.03M views2.03M
Comments
Manabu
Manabu

CEO, Co-Founder at WinguMD

Jun 13, 2020

Decided

I originally chose IntelliJ over Eclipse, as it was close enough to the look and feel of Visual Studio and we do go back and forth between the two. We really begin to love IntelliJ and their suite of IDEs so we are now using AppCode for the IOS development because the workflow is identical with the IntelliJ. IntelliJ is super complex and intimidating at first but it does afford a lot of nice utilities to get us produce clean code.

551k views551k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

Visual Studio
Visual Studio
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA

Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.

Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.

-
Smart Code Completion;On-the-fly Code Analysis;Advanced Refactorings;Database Tools;UML Designer;Version Control Tools;Build Tools
Statistics
Stacks
59.6K
Stacks
44.0K
Followers
37.9K
Followers
36.9K
Votes
1.1K
Votes
1.5K
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 305
    Intellisense, ui
  • 244
    Complete ide and debugger
  • 165
    Plug-ins
  • 104
    Integrated
  • 93
    Documentation
Cons
  • 16
    Bulky
  • 14
    Made by Microsoft
  • 6
    Sometimes you need to restart to finish an update
  • 3
    Too much size for disk
  • 3
    Only avalible on Windows
Pros
  • 301
    Fantastically intelligent
  • 242
    Best-in-class ide
  • 190
    Many languages support
  • 158
    Java
  • 121
    Fast
Cons
  • 20
    Large footprint required to really enjoy (mem/disc)
  • 16
    Very slow
  • 8
    Bad for beginners
  • 7
    UI is not intuitive
  • 5
    Constant reindexing
Integrations
No integrations available
Java
Java

What are some alternatives to Visual Studio, IntelliJ IDEA?

PhpStorm

PhpStorm

PhpStorm is a PHP IDE which keeps up with latest PHP & web languages trends, integrates a variety of modern tools, and brings even more extensibility with support for major PHP frameworks.

WebStorm

WebStorm

WebStorm is a lightweight and intelligent IDE for front-end development and server-side JavaScript.

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE is FREE, open source, and has a worldwide community of users and developers.

PyCharm

PyCharm

PyCharm’s smart code editor provides first-class support for Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, CSS, popular template languages and more. Take advantage of language-aware code completion, error detection, and on-the-fly code fixes!

Eclipse

Eclipse

Standard Eclipse package suited for Java and plug-in development plus adding new plugins; already includes Git, Marketplace Client, source code and developer documentation. Click here to file a bug against Eclipse Platform.

Android Studio

Android Studio

Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.

RubyMine

RubyMine

JetBrains RubyMine IDE provides a comprehensive Ruby code editor aware of dynamic language specifics and delivers smart coding assistance, intelligent code refactoring and code analysis capabilities.

CLion

CLion

Knowing your code through and through, CLion can take care of the routine while you focus on the important things. Boost your productivity with the keyboard-centric approach (Vim-emulation plugin is also available in plugin repository), full coding assistance, smart and relevant code completion, fast project navigation, intelligent intention actions, and reliable refactorings.

Xcode

Xcode

The Xcode IDE is at the center of the Apple development experience. Tightly integrated with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, Xcode is an incredibly productive environment for building amazing apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Pharo

Pharo

A pure object-oriented programming language and a powerful environment, focused on simplicity and immediate feedback.

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