What is your favorite open source Java IDE?

With so many options to choose from, you can find a Java IDE to meet just about any preference.
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What is your favorite open source Java IDE?

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That developers have strong opinions about the tools they use is no secret, and perhaps some of the strongest opinions come out around integrated development environments.

When we asked our community what their favorite Python IDE is, more than 10,000 of you responded. Now, it's time for Java developers to get their turn.

Certainly Eclipse has held a top spot among Java developers for many years, although it's far from the only name in town. Although proprietary IDE options are out there, with so many good open source choices, we don't know why you'd stray the open. And of course, general-purpose development environments, and even text editors are all options on the table.

Maybe your choice even depends on what you're developing! From desktop software to mobile app, embedded applications to the enterprise, Java has a footprint on just about every part of the software world.

So let us know what you prefer, and just as importantly, why you prefer it.

If your favorite open source IDE for Java is missing from our list, let us know in the comments, and if it gains enough support we'll consider adding it to the options in the poll above.

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Jason was an Opensource.com staff member and Red Hatter from 2013 to 2022. This profile contains his work-related articles from that time. Other contributions can be found on his personal account.

9 Comments

I use Red Hat's JBoss Developer Studio (which is based on Eclipse) for my own programming. I prefer BlueJ (https://bluej.org/) when I'm teaching Java to people new to programming.

I've heard of BlueJ. Is it easier than using Eclipse? (which I've only just started using since I'm a fledgling programmer which means I don't know how to code yet!) And if you had to recommend a book for teaching how to code.....what would it be?

Thanks!

In reply to by holmja

I used Netbeans for years. But nowadays it doesn't work seamlessly with the standard OpenJDK provided my the distribution, but requires the Oracle JDK. It's a pain in ... because it is not integrated in the distribution infrastructure. So it's time to switch. Eclipse is bloated, IntelliJ (too) commercial.

So I'm eager to learn about solid alternatives.

Eclipse is bloated? Just curious to learn why do you think so. Coz I thought any other ide was built on top of eclipse so if should be lighter. What other ide is lighter than eclipse?

In reply to by Peter Poy (not verified)

Eclipse is only as big as you want it to be, limit your plugins and its not too bad. Even if you add to them they have worked on performance over the years and it has improved both from an eclipse view and java view (both have become more performant over time).

In reply to by Peter Poy (not verified)

This is true about Eclipse, but after awhile it can start taking on a Rube Goldberg feel of it. At the same time I've still found the feel of the application to still be lighter than NetBeans...

In reply to by Lhasadad

I switched from Eclipse to Netbeans about 12-15 years ago. At that time Eclipse had UI problems on Mac OS X. I like Netbeans.

In the meantime I'm concerned about what I perceive as an increasing number of artefacts that rely entirely on features of Eclipse that are not portable to other IDEs (an example is OpenHAB2).

I'm presently torn between two worlds right now. I've been a huge fan of Eclipse for many years, despite it's warts, but as I do more Kotlin work and do more things with Gradle it is a lot rougher around the edges than IntelliJ has been. IntelliJ has its own warts though, and would fail the "open source" requirement of the poll for languages I use Eclipse for like C++. At this point I'm 50/50/ between the two but because of the language diversity situation I mentioned I have to choose Eclipse

I'm presently torn between two worlds right now. I've been a huge fan of Eclipse for many years, despite it's warts, but as I do more Kotlin work and do more things with Gradle it is a lot rougher around the edges than IntelliJ has been. IntelliJ has its own warts though, and would fail the "open source" requirement of the poll for languages I use Eclipse for like C++. At this point I'm 50/50/ between the two but because of the language diversity situation I mentioned I have to choose Eclipse

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