Eclipse for IntelliJ Idea Users [closed]

Answer 1

I could list a bunch of tips, gotchas, etc. because I've made the switch several times. I've tried to make the switch to Eclipse several times but couldn't do it and went back to IntelliJ.

First tip:
Intellj "project" -> Eclipse "workspace" Intellij "module" -> Eclipse "project"

Second tip: Eclipse has the concept of "Perspectives" which means it reshuffles around your UI when you're doing different things, like for debugging there's the debug perspective. I don't quite get this, I personally prefer the concept of windows, or the tool windows that dock to the bottom or sides.

Answer 2

If he definitely want to do this:

http://www.jroller.com/ervines/resource/eclipse-intellij-key-bindings.java

Answer 3

Get the plugin from here. It seems easier to install than the one in Bartosz' answer, plus no 404s...

For the lazy: direct link to plugin

Drop the plugin jar in eclipse/plugins folder and restart eclipse. Now in preferences dialog under General > Keys you can find "Intellij Idea" key scheme.

Answer 4

In answer to Bartosz, flash builder is a good reason, until jetbrains comes out with a visual mxml editor.

the direct link posted above is outdated, releases are here: http://code.google.com/p/ideakeyscheme/updates/list

Update: Found this one too: http://www.bharathganesh.com/idea-prefs.php , although it's pretty light on the description.

Answer 5

I went through the experience myself - and result was a series of articles on my blog:

• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/01/30/eclipse-vs-intellij-idea/
• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/from-intellij-idea-to-eclipse-2/
• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/from-intellij-idea-to-eclipse-3/
• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/why-to-synchronize-with-svn-in-eclipse/
• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/04/10/from-intellij-idea-to-eclipse-4/
• http://virgo47.wordpress.com/2011/06/28/from-intellij-idea-to-eclipse-5/

They are all biased towards Idea (obviously) but full of relevant Idea-Eclipse comparisons, keyboard shortcuts, little stories and observations. In generall, they are both very good IDEs, but if IDEA is 100%, Eclipse is 90%, maybe even 95% - with biggest these differences:

• different mindset is needed, Projects, Modules, Workspace may mean different things or are not used at all in one or the other IDE, you have/need Perspectives in Eclipse, not in IDEA, etc...
• quality of default Maven/SVN support is better in IDEA (it is also built-in), much smoother and less problems + 3way diff in IDEA is just great, generally Eclipse guys are so scared of merging - and now I understand why
• IDEA is far more polished, less graphics glitches and much better default colours for highlighting, etc.
• free version of IDEA does NOT have so many things as you can have with Eclipse with all possible free plugins - Eclipse plugin ecosystem is just so big!
• IDEA is just way smarter in margin cases when it comes to completion, refactorings, and these other little things where IDEA was the top of the class the whole time since 2000

I was lucky I didn't have to convert in the end because we use Maven projects that work just fine in both IDEs. However I still use Eclipse for other projects (xtext).