What is the difference between Eclipse and Netbeans if I want to use only the Java in it? [closed]

Answer 1

I think it will be mostly culture shock. Things in different places. Features named different things.

If you really want to give Netbeans a try force yourself to use it for a month. It will suck for the first day or so as none of the shortcuts will be the same, various idioms will be different etc.

At the end of the month you will be competent enough in it that these things should have gone away and you can objectively decide if you like it more. (I'm currently trying this with IntelliJ btw. Current state, confused ;-)

Answer 2

Why not use both ?

I like netbeans Profiling tools much better than eclipse's as they work straight out of the box on Linux.

Eclipse I use for normal editing, the mylin tools really help you work in a task oriented way.

Netbeans supports the import of eclipse projects so you can go along with both IDE's working on a single project if you need to.

Answer 3

Maybe when you work with several (many) projects at the same time I would prefer Eclipse (Workspace organization is great for that). Interface seems to respond better (at least vs old versions of NetBeans such as 5.0) in Eclipse too. This is related to SWT vs Swing performance issues, though the differences are no so big as on Java 1.4 days.

However I would say Netbeans is a better integrated IDE, you launch/debug applications the same way no matter you are developing a desktop application or a JSP/Servlet web application. Building relies entirely (since version 4 I think) on Ant, and Netbeans launches/adds ant target transparently. Ant in Eclipse has the same level of integration as a pair of bull horns sticked to the front of your car.

Eclipse is more extensible than Netbeans but the last is more uniform.