I am currently learning JAVA and I have a mid-range laptop, I need a lightweight IDE to solve problems and to work on. I have used IntelliJ but it is heavy, is there any lightweight best IDE?
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Which lightweight Java IDE is suitable for beginners?
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Hi, I need a lightweight Java IDE for competitive programming. All I need is a script editor and a run button, plus a console for IO.
Any suggestions? It needs to work on Windows. Thanks :)
IDEs aren't meant to be lightweight. Use a text editor like Sublime and just compile it in the terminal yourself.
But I wouldn't suggest not using an IDE with Java. Stick with IntelliJ, Eclipse, or Netbeans. Cut the plugins down to a minimum to cut down resource usage.
If you wish to learn Java, you do not learn it in a vacuum. Most professional Java development happens in an IDE such as IntelliJ, Eclipse, or Netbeans, just like most C# development happens inside Visual Studio.
Learning the tools and ecosystem for a language is equivalent if not more important than learning the language itself. Any job you'd apply for doing Java would expect you to have familiarity with these tools, or the general concepts of IDEs.
If you wish to learn Java, you also need to learn Ant, Maven, Gradle, the IDEs, the ins and outs of jar files, and how the classpath works.
In your case, firing up a new 'project' in IntelliJ and then writing some code and clicking 'Run' will do what you are asking. Get familiar with the concept of projects and debuggers as well.
Good luck.
Hi, I am trying to learn Java.
I'm probably going to learn it on both Mac and Windows.
For Mac, is there any lightweight IDE recommendation you guys have?
Then, for Windows, is it possible to use Notepad++ or is it recommended for java? I am working through a textbook "Programming and Problem Solving with Java".
I like Notepad++ because it is very lightweight, and I have past experience from botting Diablo II using it.
Best!
How low end is it? I used to use IntelliJ Idea and loved, it also ran faster than eclipse for me. DrJava is also very small and light weight. But personally I prefer vim + javac the best. :)
Netbeans is a little less sluggish than Eclipse, but it's a huge memory hog.
Emacs is always a fine choice too.
The best option is probably to stick with a full-featured IDE (as Warren P suggested and as you eventually did).
For those who really insist on a lighter-weight IDE specifically for Java, I guess DrJava would be the best option. (You said you couldn't get it to work for you, but most other readers probably will not have that problem.)
If for some reason you want something like DrJava but can't or won't use DrJava, I recommend Geany, which has some support for Java (and many other languages), including a plugin for debugging via GDB.
You may think you want that, but unless your job is to teach eight year olds, you're going to wish you just stayed with a real IDE like IntelliJ IDEA.
Reasons:
Java IDEs are big and full of features because working with Java without those features is a giant pain.
Code-completion is great. Having something check your style, suggest how to repair your project when it breaks is great. Recovery from errors is a major part of what IDEs give you.
Project build management without an editor means writing an Ant script in XML or in Maven, by hand. Java builds don't happen without build systems, except for trivial single file Java applications. Dependency resolution and library/classpath management doesn't happen magically either. You need an IDE for it.
Anything less than IntelliJ IDEA, or NetBeans, or Eclipse is going to waste hours and days (or months) of your life. I rate them as IntelliJ awesome, Netbeans almost awesome, and Eclipse as "merely ok".
If you don't want a fat IDE, then you could try JEDIT which is a text editor built in Java that has lots of lightweight plugins, one or more of them might meet your scripting needs.
2024 Update: Still IntelliJ IDEA (free Community or paid full version) as the fast, and reasonably space efficient option. Netbeans is also nice. Eclipse is actually awful.