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by Jared Richardson.
Original Post: Eclipse or NetBeans?
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The web site was created after the launch of the book "Ship It!" and discusses issues from Continuous Integration to web hosting providers.
I didn't realize there was a huge debate raging over the IDE of choice for Java developers. A friend recently forwarded me several links about the debate. I pass them on for your enjoyment.
After reading these entries, I think you'll agree that there is no debate. Everyone seems to agree that there can be only one winner. Now, if we can get everyone to agree on who that one winner is...
Seriously, here are a few observations.
First, competition is good. Having NetBeans chasing Eclipse will keep Eclipse sharp. And the same for NetBeans. Everyone runs faster when they are racing against someone else.
Second, if you're stuck in an IDE and don't know what it's doing for you, then you've done yourself a huge diservice. I strongly encourage you to be able to build your Java projects with Ant, your dotNet projects with Nant, and so forth.
Yes, it's more work at first, but you are buying yourself understanding. When Eclipse or NetBeans won't do what you want, you'll have an alternative. You'll also have a much better chance of understanding ~why~ things break. And it's inevitable that breaks will occur. The only question is whether or not you'll have to depend on your IDE's error messages to understand them. Don't put yourself in the position of having to switch IDEs to get a better error message.
And finally, try the other tool. Whichever one you like, try the other one. Strech your brain and learn something new. Eclipse doesn't stink. And neither does NetBeans. In fact, I really like them both. I'm actually doing a bit of work in NetBeans today. I haven't used NetBeans in at least a year but it's come a long way.
You know, if there hadn't been a raging debate, I never would've gotten around to trying out NetBeans again.
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