Programmers can write a Java program in a simple text editor. However, using Java IDEs can increase the efficiency of your work by many folds. An IDE comes with a debugger, automation tools, and a source code editor that can help make Java programming easy.

But the real difficulty lies in selecting the proper Java IDE as countless options are available in the market. Here in this blog, we are going to discuss the best Java IDEs which are not only popular but also widely used and trusted by the community of Java developers around the world.

Top 10 Java IDEs for programmers to use

1. Eclipse

Eclipse is a dedicated, open-source, and cross-platform Integrated Development Environment. Maybe that's why it is hailed as one of the top three robust Java IDEs.

It is based on Java Core Foundation and is written in, of course, Java programming language. Eclipse is also highly compatible with other languages like JavaScript, PHP, C, C++, Ruby, Groovy, Rust, Scala, Julia, Haskell, Perl, and Clojure.

The offerings from this Java IDE include a custom compiler, an extensible plugin system, and a base workspace. Eclipse helps programmers edit, debug, refactor, and customize their applications using the desktop or cloud edition of the IDE.

Pros:

• It is capable of creating different apps on the same platform

• Easy integration for developing tools like ANT and Apache Maven

• Comes with debuggers and in-built recommendations

Cons:

• For the initial setup, the IDE lacks enough guidelines and documentation.

• Have comprehensive authentication for JSP and HTML files.

2. IntelliJ IDEA

IntelliJ IDEA is another IDE on our list that is widely used around the world for developing Java applications. It primarily comes in two different versions; the first is a free Apache 2 community edition, and another is a proprietary commercial edition. Some of its features include:

Its key features include:

• Data flow analysis - It helps in enhancing the performance, code readability, and workflow. You don't have to run the program to track all data that can help you find bugs and improve the app design.

• Smart completion - Filters the suggestion list and only shows the types that apply to the provided context. This ought to speed up the process.

• Language injection - You can use it to include code fragments in another programming language. This feature will further assist you with editing string literals where you have injected the language.

Pros:

• Before compiling the code, error and repetitive code block detection is conducted.

• Offers robust customization features that can simplify the changes in the project structure.

• Code completion enables faster client-side and server-side scripting

Cons:

• The enterprise edition of IntelliJ IDEA is very expensive

• While working on a large-scale application, the chances are that a coding environment may crash.

• Shell integration and indexing have a lot of room for improvement.

3. Apache NetBeans

NetBeans is an open-source and official IDE for Java 8. Apache NetBeans is one of the top three IDEs for writing Java programs to develop desktop, web, and mobile apps.

The semantic and syntactic code highlighting from the platform can simplify the customization for you. Its offerings include more functionalities regarding embedded programming compared to IntelliJ and Eclipse.

Some of these functionalities are GUI development tools, readymade templates for scripting, robust refactoring and debugging tools, performance profiling tools, and more.

Pros:

• Maven support

• Increased efficiency and accuracy

• Various functionalities for embedded programming

• Source code analysis enhances your code

• Readymade templates for writing scripts.

Cons:

• Debugging is slower than IntelliJ and Eclipse

• Since you can’t install the plugins, this IDE is a heavyweight

4. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a popular Java IDE developed by Microsoft. It is a plugin-based, cross-platform IDE that supports multiple programming languages. You can easily make it a lightweight Java IDE by simply adding a plugin and an extension setup.

VS code comes with a clean and modern interface. A large community of Java developers supports and uses this IDE which makes it one of the most versatile IDEs and a popular choice for Java development.

Pros:

• Easily customizable and extensible

• In-built debugging tools

• Supports multiple platforms

Cons:

• Difficult to use for beginners as it has a steeper learning curve

• Limited out-of-the-box support for Java.

5. Xcode

Apple developed a free productive environment called Xcode to build apps for macOS, iOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Besides Java, Xcode also supports programming languages like AppleScript, Swift, Ruby, Python, Objective-C++, Objective-C, C, C+, and C++.

Xcode comes with a feature called Assistant Editor which splits your window panel into two parts. You can see your work on the left and a smart assistant editor on the right. The editor panel will display all the files that are more relevant and helpful to your use case automatically.

This Java IDE also renders source control and version control. It enables you to check logs, go back to a committed timeline, and compare your file versions. While merge and branch operations are underway, source code is very helpful to the distributed teams.

Some other features of Xcode include a jump bar, quick access, schema management, syntax highlighting, and debugging.

Pros:

• Creating, editing, and managing schema is pretty straightforward.

• User-friendly interface

• Automatic help for rapid development.

• Prototyping

Cons:

• For distributed teams, Xcode isn't the best solution

• It is compatible with Apple devices only

• Needs a license to launch the developed application

6. JDeveloper

Oracle designed JDeveloper specifically to simplify the software development lifecycle. Complete lifecycle management is offered to developers to help them design, code, optimize, debug, and deploy the apps.

A declarative, and a visual editor is available in JDeveloper along with a user-friendly interface. The IDE handles end-to-end development for Oracle’s apps and platforms. Developers can integrate it with the Oracle Application Development Framework.

Pros:

• Can integrate with agile development components and software versioning.

• Visual and non-visual utilities.

• Handles the complete software lifecycle

Cons:

• Very little support or official documentation is available

• Slower program execution

• Needs a lot of resources

7. DrJava

DrJava is an IDE created especially for students and beginners. Although it is not as robust as other Java IDEs, it is free, open-source, and comes with a user-friendly interface that allows the developers to easily master the skill of writing and reviewing Java code.

This is also a cross-platform IDE, so it works and has the same appearance on all platforms like Windows, macOS, and Linux. To evaluate the code, DrJava provides a JUnit test facility and a debugger. It also enables the programmers to display the output in the same console.

A go-to-line, auto-completion, syntax coloring, automatic indentation, and find/replace are some of the other useful features of DrJava.

Pros:

• Don’t need an initial setup to get started

• Offers some amazing testing and troubleshooting features

• Intuitive and user-friendly GUI.

• Fast and lightweight.

Cons:

• Provides only basic IDE features

• While using heavy real-time apps, the performance gets slowed down

8. Android Studio

Android Studio is the IDe that can help you use Java to build Android applications. Google created this IDE and has provided seamless integration with Google services like Google Play Store and Google Cloud. Android Studio has become a de facto standard in the Android development arena.

Pros:

• Feature-rich

• Easily customizable and extensible

• Have active community support

• User-friendly

Cons:

• Resource intensive

• Large storage requirements

• Limited to Android projects

9. MyEclipse

A platform built on top of Eclipse IDE is named MyEclipse. It is a feature-rich Java IDE that uses proprietary and open-source code in the software development environment. MyEclipse is suitable for enterprise development. It comes with tools like WebSphere, Spring, Java EE, and Maven to help developers create robust apps.

Some of its features are as mentioned below:

• CodeLive from MyEclipse helps with previewing and testing the code

• Offers REST-specific tools for the development of RESTful web services.

• Supports multiple frameworks and programming languages.

• Have dozens of server connections

• Provides tools for database design and persistence

Pros:

• CodeLive support with live preview.

• Supports visual ER models, reverse engineering, and persistence support.

• The in-built Maven editing and launch commands simplify the project management

• Java EE development.

Cons:

• While working on larger projects, MyEclipse can become heavy and need a lot of resources

• Every expensive

10. JCreator

Xenox software built a robust yet lightweight Java IDE called JCreator. Unlike other popular Java IDEs, this one is written in C++ which makes it faster.

Handling several JDK profiles across multiple projects is quite easy for JCreator. And it wouldn't even need JRE to execute Java code. The source code navigation is easy in JCreator because it has an interface similar to that of Visual Studio Code.

This IDE is available in three types of versions;

1. Lite

2. Pro

3. Life-Pro

No advanced features are provided in a free trial. But it certainly renders project templates, code completion, syntax highlighting, and wizards. In a Pro version, you can get ANT support, a code wizard, and a debugger.

Pros:

• The compilation and deployment of the code can be done without the need to activate the main document

• API documentation is easily accessible for customization.

• User-friendly interface

• Fast and lightweight.

Cons:

• Poor plugin architecture

• Works with Windows only

Final words

In this blog, we looked at some of the most popular and widely used Java IDEs and discussed their pros and cons. Of course, many more options are available out there, but these ten sum up most of the functionalities of a Java IDE. and I'm sure you wouldn't want less than the best for writing your Java code.

Now, the decision to pick a suitable Java IDE depends upon your project requirements. We have included free and premium IDEs that come with tons of features in our list. These IDEs could help developers fulfill the requirements ranging from building a simple web app to enterprise applications in a development environment. I hope this helps!