NetBeans or Eclipse. Which IDE should I use first?

Question

I've been creating Java programs in a text editor for more than a year and now I want to switch to any IDE for creating Java applications. May I know which IDE should I use first? Eclipse or NetBeans? Which is more preferable for a starter?

I've also done a little work in Visual Studio for creating C# applications. Will working on any IDE gonna be helpful for me?

Solution 1

I've always liked NetBeans for it's simplicity, however I use Eclipse as it has an official plugin for Android, provided by Google. Eclipse is very good but also somewhat complicated - I've used it for years and probably don't know what 60% of the settings or features even do.

So stick to NetBeans, unless you're doing Android development.

Solution 2

Eclipse is definitely closer to the text editor environment you're used to, while NetBeans is more geared towards interface development.

A stock installation of Eclipse is extremely lightweight relative to NetBeans. NetBeans is probably closer to Visual Studio. It depends on what kind of environment you prefer to work in.

If you enjoyed and preferred text editor coding, I'd go with Eclipse. If you preferred Visual Studio-style environments, I'd go with NetBeans.

If your computer is old, I'd go with Eclipse as well.

Solution 3

Eclipse is heavily developed by third parties (google, adobe), netBeans by oracle, so while doing some job with java i felt netBeans to be more "native" for java. Although i do most of the programming in other languages so i use eclipse, since you can bend it to any direction you want. So, all in all, if you're planing just program in java and have done something with visual studio - use netbeans

Solution 4

When I was learning Java they had us using jGRASP, then had us using Netbeans. Netbeans and Eclipse are very similar if you are just starting.

This is the IDE I use http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/

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