For someone coming from Visual Studio/C# background and wants to learn Java - Which should I get: Netbeans or Eclipse?

Question

I'm looking for the following:

1. A nice debugger that allows me to easily view variable values if I use breakpoints.

2. Works very nicely in Windows 7.

3. Has something similar to the Toolbox pane in Visual Studio.

4. Built in intellisense, and code completion with the TAB key.

5. Long term support. I mean something that will last and stay in active development for years. I don't want a pet project IDE that will stop developing in a year. I'm just learning so it'll be very dificult at first to switch IDE's.

I'm new so I don't really know which IDE provides what I need between the two. Any help?

Answer 1

Well, I switched from Eclipse to Visual Studio, and I use both just about every day.

I found it hard to get used to the little differences at first, but now I am proficient in both IDEs.

I can't speak to whether or not Netbeans would be easier to learn, but Eclipse shouldn't be hard at all.

Both IDEs will provide all of the features that you have listed, and you should be able to customize both of them to get them to work almost exactly like Visual Studio.

Answer 2

So you want to learn Java and your first question is about which IDE to learn ? I suggest you look at BlueJ which is an IDE designed for people who want to learn Java. From my, I admit limited, experience with the IDEs you mention, BlueJ is the one which gets least in one's way when trying to learn Java as opposed to learning the IDE. Once you've exhausted BlueJ's capabilities there is an easy progression to NetBeans through a plug-in but you would probably not find it too difficult to step up to Eclipse instead.

Yes, I know you want to choose between Eclipse and NetBeans but BlueJ might be of interest.