Best 10 Java IDEs for Java Programming Language

Choosing the right Java IDE can impact your coding productivity, efficiency, and learning curve. Whether you are a complete beginner learning the basics of Java or an enterprise developer working on Spring Boot or Jakarta EE, your choice of Java IDE is important. In this guide, we will learn the 10 best Java IDEs, from industry-standard platforms like IntelliJ IDEA and Eclipse to beginner-friendly tools like BlueJ and jGRASP. You will learn their key features, pros and cons, use cases, and who each IDE is best suited for.

Table of Contents:

• What is a Java IDE?
• Best 10 Java IDEs for Java Programming Language
  • 1. IntelliJ IDEA
  • 2. Visual Studio Code
  • 3. Eclipse
  • 4. NetBeans
  • 5. BlueJ
  • 6. JDeveloper
  • 7. JCreator
  • 8. DrJava
  • 9. jGRASP
  • 10. MyEclipse
• In-Depth Comparison Table of Top Java IDEs
• Conclusion

What is a Java IDE?

Java is a high-level, object-oriented, platform-independent programming language developed by Sun Microsystems, now owned by Oracle. It is a widely used programming language for developing mobile applications, web applications, and desktop software.

An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a software tool that combines all the tools required for software development into a single application and helps developers write code efficiently with fewer errors.

A Java IDE is a software application that provides an environment for programmers to write, edit, test, compile, debug, and run Java programs. It includes all the features for Java, like:

• Java compiler integration
• Support for Java syntax and APIs
• Built-in JVM or server for running Java applications
• Java debugging tools
• Integration with frameworks (like Spring, Hibernate)

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Best 10 Java IDEs for Java Programming Language

There are many IDEs present for the Java programming Language. Some of the widely used IDEs are as follows:

1. IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is a powerful IDE developed by JetBrains, widely used for the Java programming language. It also supports many languages like Kotlin, Scala, Groovy, Python, JavaScript, and more, but is known for its smart code assistance, developer productivity features, and robust performance. IntelliJ IDEA is often preferred by professionals and enterprise developers.

Features of IntelliJ IDEA

Some of the main features of IntelliJ are:

1. Smart Code Completion: It suggests to the user relevant methods, fields, classes, and variable names, based on the current context.
2. Advanced Refactoring: It provides tools such as renaming methods, changing the signature of methods, extracting methods, and so on, to restructure code safely.
3. Code Analysis: IntelliJ IDEA constantly analyzes your code in the background and detects errors, warnings, and redundant code, and then provides quick fixes for that.
4. Version Control Integration: It has integrated tools for Git, GitHub, Mercurial, Subversion (SVN), Perforce, etc, which give commit history, different viewers, merge tools, and more, within a single IDE.
5. Support for Frameworks: It supports multiple frameworks, like Spring, Spring Boot, Java EE, Hibernate, JPA, etc, with a clean and easy-to-use interface.

Pros of IntelliJ IDEA

Some of the advantages of IntelliJ IDEA are as follows:

• It is a stable, fast, and regularly updated IDE.
• It is the top Java IDE for Spring Boot and enterprise Java development.
• It has a large community support.

Cons of IntelliJ IDEA

Some of the disadvantages of IntelliJ IDEA are as follows:

• The ultimate edition of IntelliJ is paid and can be expensive for individual users.
• It is heavy on resources as compared to other IDEs.
• Some beginners may find it difficult to learn or get started with it.

2. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code, commonly known as VS Code, is a lightweight and powerful IDE developed by Microsoft. It is an open-source platform supporting many programming languages like Java, Python, JavaScript, C++, Go, and more. It has multiple plugins, making it one of the most customizable and popular code editors today.

Features of Visual Studio Code

Some of the main features of Visual Studio Code are:

1. Lightweight: VS Code is widely known for its quick startup, low memory usage, and fast performance, even on old-generation devices.
2. Customizable Interface: It supports multiple themes like dark, light, and high contrast, with fully functional keyboard shortcuts.
3. Built-in Terminal: VS Code has its own fully functional terminal, which supports multiple shells like PowerShell, Bash, Zsh, and CMD.
4. Debugging Tools: It has a powerful debugger with breakpoints, call stacks, and step-through code to debug the program.
5. Extension Market: It has a massive library for multiple language extensions like Maven for Java, Spring Boot Extension Pack, and so on.

Pros of Visual Studio Code

Some of the advantages of Visual Studio Code are as follows:

• It is excellent for Git and GitHub integration.
• It contains a huge ecosystem of extensions
• It is good for multi-language projects.

Cons of Visual Studio Code

Some of the disadvantages of Visual Studio Code are as follows:

• It is not a full IDE and needs configuration for Java.
• Its support for Java is not as robust as compared to IntelliJ.
• It can become slow when too many extensions are present in it.

3. Eclipse

Eclipse is an open-source IDE, widely used mainly for Java development, developed by the Eclipse Foundation. It has been a primary choice for Java developers for many years and supports multiple programming languages like C/C++, Python, PHP, Kotlin, Scala, and more. It is especially popular in academic institutions.

Features of Eclipse

Some of the main features of Eclipse are:

1. Cross-Platform: It is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and also works with different JDK versions.
2. Enterprise Development: Eclipse has strong support for Java EE, Jakarta EE, and frameworks like Spring, JSF, JPA, and Hibernate. It also includes web tools for developing servlets, JSPs, and REST APIs.
3. Plugin: Eclipse has a plugin-based architecture, and as per the needs, you can add or remove plugins in it.
4. Project Build Tools: It gives built-in support for Maven and Gradle with the help of plugins and easily manages project dependencies.
5. Debugging tools: It has advanced debugging tools with breakpoints and is also integrated with JUnit tests for testing.

Pros of Eclipse

Some of the advantages of Eclipse are as follows:

• It is extremely powerful for Java and Java EE development.
• It is preferred in an academic environment.
• It has a rich plugin ecosystem.

Cons of Eclipse

Some of the disadvantages of Eclipse are as follows:

• It is slower and heavier as compared to VS Code.
• There can be plugin conflicts when two or more plugins require different versions of the same dependency.
• It does not provide a user-friendly interface like IntelliJ.

4. NetBeans

NetBeans is maintained by the Apache Software Foundation and provides robust support for Java SE, Java EE, JavaFX, and multiple other languages, such as PHP, HTML5, JavaScript, C/C++, and Groovy, via plugins. It is known for its simplicity and clear interface, due to which it is a primary choice among beginners and professionals.

Features of NetBeans

Some of the main features of NetBeans are:

1. All-in-One Setup: NetBeans is embedded with essential Java tools, hence, no requirement for any extra plugin to be installed.
2. GUI Designer: For Java Swing, it provides a drag-and-drop builder, making it easy for the user to build designs.
3. Web and Enterprise Development: It provides built-in tools for Servlets, JSP, JSF, EJBs, RESTful web services, and Java EE/Jakarta EE, and also supports application servers like Apache Tomcat.
4. Cross-Language Support: NetBeans supports HTML5, JavaScript, PHP, C/C++, and Python (with a plugin), and is good for full-stack developers.
5. Cross-Platform: It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris, and needs a compatible JDK to run Java applications.

Pros of NetBeans

Some of the advantages of NetBeans are as follows:

• It is free and open-source.
• It gets regular updates from Apache and a large community.
• It requires minimal configuration for an application.

Cons of NetBeans

Some of the disadvantages of NetBeans are as follows:

• Its plugin ecosystem is smaller than Eclipse or VS Code.
• It can be slower on large projects.
• The GUI is outdated compared to IntelliJ or VS Code.

5. BlueJ

BlueJ is a free, lightweight IDE especially designed for teaching and learning Java programming. It was developed by Michael Kölling and John Rosenberg at the University of Kent and Monash University. Unlike fully professional IDEs, BlueJ is simple, clear, and educational, which makes it best suited for beginners who are just starting to learn object-oriented programming (OOP) in Java.

Features of BlueJ

Some of the main features of BlueJ are:

1. Educational Design: It is mainly created for students and teachers because of its simple interface without any complexity like large IDEs.
2. Visual Class Structure: It automatically generates a graphical UML-like class diagram for your project, which allows you to interact with objects visually.
3. Interactive Object Creation: To create an object, you can right-click on a class and create an object, which helps beginners understand how objects, classes, and methods work.
4. Input/Output Window: It has a console-like terminal to view the output or to take input, which is useful for text-based projects.
5. Portable: It can run through a USB stick without any installation required.

Pros of BlueJ

Some of the advantages of BlueJ are as follows:

• It is ideal for beginners in Java and OOP concepts.
• It provides a visual representation of class relationships.
• It has a clean interface, with no distractions.

Cons of BlueJ

Some of the disadvantages of BlueJ are as follows:

• It is not suitable for professional developers.
• It does not have support for frameworks like Spring.
• It also lacks advanced IDE features such as Git integration.

6. JDeveloper

JDeveloper is a free IDE developed by Oracle Corporation to easily develop applications for Oracle technologies such as Oracle ADF (Application Development Framework), Oracle Database, and Fusion Middleware. It supports the full development lifecycle of an application, from design to coding and debugging, and deployment.

Features of JDeveloper

Some of the key features of JDeveloper are:

1. ADF: JDeveloper is the primary Java IDE used for building Oracle ADF (Application Development Framework) applications for building web applications. It provides drag-and-drop UI development.
2. Database Development Tools: JDeveloper comes with a built-in SQL Developer interface, which gives direct access to browsing tables and schemas.
3. Full Lifecycle Management: It consists of tools for requirements gathering, code generation, Unit testing, and many more.
4. Java Support: It supports Java SE, Java EE, and JavaFX with features like code completion, syntax highlighting, and visual UML modeling.
5. Visual Development: It offers visual editors for web pages and database tables, and also promotes low-code development.

Pros of JDeveloper

Some of the advantages of JDeveloper are as follows:

• It is excellent for Oracle-based enterprise development.
• It has Visual development tools that reduce manual coding.
• It is free to use, unlike most Oracle products

Cons of JDeveloper

Some of the disadvantages of JDeveloper are as follows:

• It is heavy and slow compared to other IDEs like VS Code.
• The UI and plugin look to be outdated.
• It is hard for beginners, mainly those who are not familiar with Oracle.

7. JCreator

JCreator is a lightweight and fast IDE developed by Xinox Software. Its design resembles that of Microsoft’s VS Code and is made for developers who prefer a simple, native Windows environment without any heavy overhead of modern IDEs. JCreator is written in C++, making it fast and responsive on older systems.

Features of JCreator

Some of the main features of JCreator are:

1. Lightweight and Fast: JCreator is written in native C++, hence it is faster than Java-based IDEs like Eclipse or NetBeans, with minimal RAM and CPU usage.
2. Simple user interface: It has a clean and easy-to-use interface, especially familiar to the users of older Visual Studio versions, and great for beginners learning Java.
3. Compile and Run Buttons: You can compile and run your code with just one click.
4. Tool Configuration: It can be easily linked to external tools like JDK or any external JARs.
5. Visual Development: It offers visual editors with syntax highlighting for Java, code indentation, and bracket matching.

Pros of JCreator

Some of the advantages of JCreator are as follows:

• It is extremely lightweight and fast.
• It has a quick compile and run cycle with direct JDK integration.
• It has a very simple GUI.

Cons of JCreator

Some of the disadvantages of JCreator are as follows:

• It only supports the Windows environment.
• It lacks plugins for frameworks like Spring, Hibernate, and so on.
• It is not suitable for enterprise or web development.

Note: JCreator has not received updates in recent years and may not be compatible with modern Java versions.

8. DrJava

DrJava is a lightweight and simple IDE for Java programming, designed for beginners and students learning Java. It was developed by the JavaPLT group at Rice University to provide an easy platform for learning and experimenting with Java code.

Features of DrJava

Some of the main features of DrJava are:

1. Cross-Platform: It works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
2. Integrated Compiler and Debugger: It allows you to compile, run, and debug programs within the same environment.
3. Error Detection: It gives real-time error detection, which provides immediate feedback on code issues.
4. Simple Interface: It has a simple and clean interface to help beginners use it easily.
5. Visual Development: It gives visual syntax highlighting for Java, making it simple for beginners.

Pros of DrJava

Some of the advantages of DrJava are as follows:

• It allows users to test Java statements and expressions interactively without writing full programs.
• It does not require complex configuration, plugin management, or build tools as you just need to install it and start coding.

Cons of DrJava

Some of the disadvantages of DrJava are as follows:

• It is not suitable for professional or enterprise-level development.
• It does not have advanced features like Maven/Gradle support, Java EE tools, or plugin ecosystems.

9. jGRASP

jGRASP (Java Generic Representation and Animation System for Programs) is a lightweight IDE created primarily for students and educators and focuses on providing visual representations of code to make it easier to understand how programs work.

Features of jGRASP

Some of the main features of jGRASP are:

1. Lightweight IDE: It is small, fast, and easy to install, which makes it perfect for beginners and educational use.
2. Control Structure Diagrams (CSDs): They help users to understand and trace the control flow easily.
3. Support for Multiple Languages: It is primarily used for the Java programming language, but also supports C, C++, Python, and so on.
4. Cross-Platform: It works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
5. Integrated Debugger: It comes with a Cross-Platform debugger that works on Windows, built-in debugger for better code analysis.

Pros of jGRASP

Some of the advantages of jGRASP are as follows:

• It helps users to see how code and data work together.
• It is easy to set up without additional dependencies.
• It features a simple and clean interface, making it ideal for students and programmers.

Cons of jGRASP

Some of the disadvantages of jGRASP are as follows:

• The GUI is outdated compared to IntelliJ or VS Code
• It cannot extend plugins like IntelliJ or Eclipse.
• It does not get updated as frequently as other IDEs.

10. MyEclipse

MyEclipse is a Java IDE built on top of the Eclipse platform by Genuitec. It extends Eclipse’s functionalities with powerful tools and aims at enterprise-grade Java EE development, making it especially suitable for full-stack Java applications that involve web, server, database, and frontend technologies.

Features of MyEclipse

Some of the key features of MyEclipse are:

1. Database Tools: It is integrated with DB Explorer, SQL editor, ER diagrams, and connectivity features.
2. Web Development: It supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, Angular, React, and RESTful services for developing web applications.
3. Mobile Tools: It also supports hybrid mobile application support using PhoneGap/Cordova.
4. Web and Enterprise Development: It provides built-in tools for Spring Boot and Hibernate, and also supports application servers like Apache Tomcat.
5. Project Build Tools: It gives built-in support for Maven and Gradle with the help of plugins and easily manages project dependencies.

Note: Cordova is no longer actively maintained.

Pros of MyEclipse

Some of the advantages of MyEclipse are as follows:

• It is ideal for Java EE, Spring, Hibernate, and JSF-like applications.
• It comes with tools for web, backend, frontend, database, and mobile development in one.
• It offers features like reverse engineering, hot-sync deployment, and code generators to save time.

Cons of MyEclipse

Some of the disadvantages of MyEclipse are as follows:

• It has paid software that requires a subscription.
• It is slower than lightweight IDEs like BlueJ.
• It does not provide a user-friendly interface like IntelliJ.

In-Depth Comparison Table of Top Java IDEs

Now, let us compare all the IDEs we have discussed so far.

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Conclusion

There are many IDEs present, but selecting a good Java IDE varies from person to person. From the above article, we got our 10 best Java IDEs, which are helpful for a person to learn Java in a flexible, free, and visually appealing code editor. Some of them are free and are mainly used at the student level, while others have a premium subscription with some advantages. Hence, a correct choice should be made while choosing the right Java IDE.

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