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IntelliJ IDEA vs Visual Studio Code: What are the differences?
Key Differences between IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code
IntelliJ IDEA and Visual Studio Code are two popular integrated development environments (IDEs) used by developers for software development. While both have their own unique features and capabilities, there are several key differences between the two:
Interface and User Experience: IntelliJ IDEA provides a more feature-rich and complex interface, with a variety of tools and options available for customization. On the other hand, Visual Studio Code offers a simpler and more lightweight interface, focusing on providing a smooth and efficient user experience.
Language Support: IntelliJ IDEA is primarily focused on Java development, providing extensive support and features specifically designed for Java projects. However, it also offers support for other programming languages like Kotlin, Scala, and more. In contrast, Visual Studio Code is a versatile IDE that supports a wide range of programming languages out of the box, including JavaScript, TypeScript, Python, C++, and many others.
Plugins and Extensions: IntelliJ IDEA has a vast ecosystem of plugins and extensions available, providing additional functionalities and integrations with various frameworks and tools. It has a strong community support and a dedicated marketplace for these plugins. Visual Studio Code also offers a rich collection of extensions, and its marketplace provides a wide range of options for enhancing the IDE's capabilities.
Debugging and Testing Tools: IntelliJ IDEA offers comprehensive debugging and testing tools, with advanced features like support for remote debugging, code coverage analysis, and integrated test runners. Visual Studio Code also provides debugging and testing capabilities, but its focus is more on simplicity and ease of use, with features like inline debugging and integrated terminal.
Integrations and Ecosystem: IntelliJ IDEA has strong integrations with various build tools, version control systems, and development frameworks, making it a preferred choice for enterprise-level development. It also offers seamless integration with other JetBrains tools, creating a unified development experience. Visual Studio Code, on the other hand, is highly extensible and integrates well with various tools and frameworks, catering to a wide range of development needs.
Performance and Resource Usage: IntelliJ IDEA is known for its robustness and powerful features, but it consumes more system resources compared to Visual Studio Code. Visual Studio Code is optimized for lightweight development and focuses on providing a fast and responsive coding experience even on lower-end machines.
In summary, IntelliJ IDEA is a feature-rich and powerful IDE primarily focused on Java development, while Visual Studio Code is a versatile and lightweight IDE with support for multiple programming languages. IntelliJ IDEA has a more complex interface and extensive plugin ecosystem, ideal for enterprise-level development, while Visual Studio Code offers simplicity, ease of use, and strong community support. Choose the IDE that suits your specific development needs and preferences.
I am a QA heading to a new company where they all generally use Visual Studio Code, my experience is with IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm. The language they use is JavaScript and so I will be writing my test framework in javaScript so the devs can more easily write tests without context switching.
My 2 questions: Does VS Code have Cucumber Plugins allowing me to write behave tests? And more importantly, does VS Code have the same refactoring tools that IntelliJ IDEA has? I love that I have easy access to a range of tools that allow me to refactor and simplify my code, making code writing really easy.
I use Intellij IDEA Ultimate for javascript development and testing. Everything is configured and run smoothly. Visual Studio Code is a basic editor with a rich set of plugins. Making them to work smoothly is challenging sometimes. If you don't have a license for the Ultimate Edition, you can use Intellij EAP builds. The best judgement is to test both tools and see where you perform your work more efficiently. I'd recommend Intellij IDEA IDE for professional development.
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?
Pycharm is great for python development, but can feel sometimes slow and community version has Somme very annoying restrictions (like they disabled jupyter notebooks plugin and made it premium feature). I personally started looking into VS Code as an alternative, and it has some very good potential. I suggest you take it into account.
The Community version of PyCharm is free and should give you what you need to get started with Python. Both PyCharm and IntelliJ are made by JetBrains. IntelliJ is initially focused on Java but you can get plugins for lots of other things. I subscribe to JetBrains' Toolbox: https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox-app/ and have access to all of their great tools.
Hi, I will give my opinion based on my experience. I have used PyCharm, both community and Professional version. The community has limited functions, like you can't use a Jupyter notebook whereas it's available in the Professional version. PyCharm is slower compared to Visual Studio Code. Also Visual Studio Code is an editor which supports various languages. I myself have used both Visual Studio Code and PyCharm. I feel Visual Studio Code would be better choice. You may as well decide based upon your requirements.
I couldn't imagine using a development tool other than the IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate All Products Pack. A single license allows me to work directly on my server running Ubuntu and/or my workstation running Windows 10 Pro simultaneously. My current project uses HTML, W3CSS, JavaScript, Java, Groovy, Grails, C, GO, Python, Flask, and Rust. For me it's worth every penny of the $150 license fee. And you can try it for free.
I'd personally recommend Visual Studio Code as it gives you the flexibility of working in any language, so long as there are extensions to support it. It gives you the flexibility to learn Python, venture into Java, Javascript, and eventually AngularJS, and potentially mobile applications. It's also free and you can install it on your personal computer. I think Visual Studio Code would serve your intended use case best.
Visual Studio code is easy to use, has a good UI, and a large community. Python works great with it, but unlike some other editors, it works with most languages either by default or by downloading a plugin. VS Code has built in linting, syntax coloring, autocompletes (IntelliSense), and an api for plugins to do there own tooling.
IntelliJ really is the best for Java, I switched from eclipse years ago and never looked back. As for javascript, python and angular either using the standalone products from jetbrains (pycharm for python, webstorm for js) or installing the relevant plugins for InteliJ will be your best bet. Pycharm etc. are really just InteliJ with some additional plugins installed.
If you starting with Python then PyCharm is better. For Java I would suggest to go with IntelliJ IDEA but people also prefer eclipse so I would say try both and then decide. For JS/Angular/React I would suggest go with VSCode. I personally use it and prefer as its light weight and have good integration with chrome for frontend development.
PyCharm, IntelliJ IDEA are both products of JetBrains. They have a free (limited feature) and paid edition. Eclipse is free. VSCode is also free.
All three are great, however, I believe that IntelliJ IDEA's multiple IDE's are slightly more straight-forward and more up-to date than Eclipse. If I had to choose one specifically for Python projects I would go with PyCharm.
Pycharm is all you need to get start coding in python or any of its framework. Its an awesome tool you should give it a try :)
This is a very easy to use tool and gives you the opportunity to start coding right after the installation with almost everything setup automatically by the tool.
Easy to learn and everything you need
Now, to be clear, I'll still use VS Code for larger projects because my computer is somewhat oldish (5 or so years) and isn't quite beefy enough to run a large project on an IDE, but for a small-medium project, IDEA is perfect.
I have mostly migrated to IDEA because of it's beautiful UI, git tools, and file tree. There are other reasons, but these are the top 3.
The UI is modern and clean, it has depth and everything is easy to read compared to VS Codes flat design, and zero depth.
The git tools are amazing. Sure, VS Code has useful git tools, but most of the time I hardly remembered they were there. But for the times I did use it, using the git CLI was more convenient. But Git and IDEA? Now that's a match made in heaven. Git is well integrated, and makes working with git a bit easier than the CLI. You can do everything in the GUI that you can in the CLI, and it makes having to do that dreaded hard reset super easy. Like there's no real way you could possibly screw it up my putting in the wrong command, or the wrong commit to roll back to. Rebasing is easy. Pushing is easy, Commiting is easy. Just about anything git is easier with IDEA.
With it's terminal-like git controller, (though that is more GUI than CLI), we have the option to add branches both locally and directly to the remote. We can delete branches both locally and remotely directly, and you can follow your typical git workflow by right clicking. You also have a beautiful git menu up-top. And here is the path to fast commits:
And for that file tree? I mean, try finding your way around a large project in VS Code is a nightmare, or even just a medium sized project the size of my weather app (in current progress), it's hard to navigate in vs code. I always forget where I am, and where to go. I always have to use the menu search. Now for IDEA's file tree, I haven't even touched the search feature yet other than for testing it out. It is so much clearer and easier to read. So yeah, I'm a bit enthusiastic about this tool, and wonder why I didn't try it out sooner but anyways, yea. IDEA FTW.
Lightweight and versatile. Huge library of extensions that enable you to integrate a host of services to your development environment. VS Code's biggest strength is its library of extensions which enables it to directly compete with every single major IDE for almost all major programming languages.
Visual Studio Code became famous over the past 3+ years I believe. The clean UI, easy to use UX and the plethora of integrations made it a very easy decision for us. Our gripe with Sublime was probably only the UX side. VSCode has not failed us till now, and still is able to support our development env without any significant effort.
Goland being paid, as well as built only for Go seemed like a significant limitation to not consider it.
Comparison points:
- Free advanced tools vs Unaffordable pro license
- Simplicity vs Complexity (ie, indexing backgound tasks)
- Lightweight vs Heavyweight UX
- Extensibility vs Too many bundled features
- Intuitive keyboard shortcuts vs Keymap reference
- Full-stack user base vs Backend-oriented user base
IntelliJ code suggestions and superb Kotlin support are some features still missing in VSCode, but for everything else it's a simpler choice of IDE, and #vscodecandothat too.
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.
I decided to choose VSCode over Sublime text for my Systems Programming class in C. What I love about VSCode is its awesome ability to add extensions. Intellisense is a beautiful debugger, and Remote SSH allows me to login and make real-time changes in VSCode to files on my university server. This is an awesome alternative to going back and forth on pushing/pulling code and logging into servers in the terminal. Great choice for anyone interested in C programming!
Pros of IntelliJ IDEA
- Fantastically intelligent301
- Best-in-class ide242
- Many languages support190
- Java158
- Fast121
- Code analysis82
- Reliable79
- Out of the box integration with maven, git, svn76
- Plugin architecture64
- Integrated version control61
- Code refactoring support12
- Best java IDE11
- Local history7
- Code Completion6
- Kotlin6
- Integrated Database Navigator6
- Built-in terminal/run tools6
- All5
- Free for open-source development, students and teacher5
- Base for Android Studio5
- Free If you're a Student5
- ERD Diagrams4
- Free4
- Cross platform4
- IDE4
- Database/Code integration4
- Out Of The Box features3
- Column Selection Mode3
- Server and client-side debugger3
- More than enough languages for any developer3
- Typescript support3
- Multicursor support3
- Reformating Code3
- Intuitive3
- Command-line tools3
- Android Integration3
- Vim support3
- Special icons for most filetypes in project list3
- Supports many frameworks3
- Built-in web server3
- Live Templates3
- Scala support3
- Works fine with mac os catalina2
- A lot of plugin2
- Just works2
- Integrated Ssh/Ftp Managers2
- Full support2
- Task managers2
- Diff tools2
- File Watchers2
- Support for various package managers2
- Integrated Code Linting2
- Clean UI2
- Open source2
- So modernised2
- Efficient, one Stop solution2
Pros of Visual Studio Code
- Powerful multilanguage IDE340
- Fast308
- Front-end develop out of the box193
- Support TypeScript IntelliSense158
- Very basic but free142
- Git integration126
- Intellisense106
- Faster than Atom78
- Better ui, easy plugins, and nice git integration53
- Great Refactoring Tools45
- Good Plugins44
- Terminal42
- Superb markdown support38
- Open Source36
- Extensions34
- Large & up-to-date extension community26
- Awesome UI26
- Powerful and fast24
- Portable22
- Best editor18
- Best code editor18
- Easy to get started with17
- Lots of extensions15
- Built on Electron15
- Crossplatform15
- Good for begginers15
- Extensions for everything14
- Open, cross-platform, fast, monthly updates14
- All Languages Support14
- Easy to use and learn13
- Extensible12
- "fast, stable & easy to use"12
- Totally customizable11
- Git out of the box11
- Faster edit for slow computer11
- Ui design is great11
- Useful for begginer11
- Great community10
- SSH support10
- Fast Startup10
- It has terminal and there are lots of shortcuts in it9
- Powerful Debugger9
- Great language support9
- Works With Almost EveryThing You Need9
- Python extension is fast8
- Can compile and run .py files8
- Great document formater7
- Features rich7
- He is not Michael6
- Awesome multi cursor support6
- Extension Echosystem6
- She is not Rachel6
- Language server client5
- Easy azure5
- SFTP Workspace5
- VSCode.pro Course makes it easy to learn5
- Very proffesional5
- Supports lots of operating systems4
- Has better support and more extentions for debugging4
- Excellent as git difftool and mergetool4
- Virtualenv integration4
- Has more than enough languages for any developer3
- Better autocompletes than Atom3
- Emmet preinstalled3
- 'batteries included'3
- More tools to integrate with vs3
- VS Code Server: Browser version of VS Code2
- Big extension marketplace2
- Customizable2
- Microsoft2
- Light2
- Fast and ruby is built right in2
- CMake support with autocomplete2
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Cons of IntelliJ IDEA
- Large footprint required to really enjoy (mem/disc)20
- Very slow16
- Bad for beginners8
- UI is not intuitive7
- Not nearly as many tools to integrate as vs code5
- Constant reindexing5
- Needs a lot of CPU and RAM power4
- Built in terminal is slow3
- Doesn't work that well with windows 10 edu3
- Ruby is a plug in1
- Pesky warnings increase with every release1
- AAD0
Cons of Visual Studio Code
- Slow startup46
- Resource hog at times29
- Poor refactoring20
- Poor UI Designer13
- Weak Ui design tools11
- Poor autocomplete10
- Super Slow8
- Huge cpu usage with few installed extension8
- Microsoft sends telemetry data8
- Poor in PHP7
- It's MicroSoft6
- Poor in Python3
- No Built in Browser Preview3
- No color Intergrator3
- Very basic for java development and buggy at times3
- No built in live Preview3
- Electron3
- Bad Plugin Architecture2
- Powered by Electron2
- Terminal does not identify path vars sometimes1
- Slow C++ Language Server1
