Hot Deploy Example

I use hot deployment with Glassfish 2.1 and a Maven project. There really isn't anything that complicated about it. My debug configuration is set to run a maven goal. On the deployment tab I picked my war exploded artifact. Both are setup automatically when I import my Maven POM file. When I start the debug session IDEA starts Glassfish and deploys the application. If you are using Ant you might need to manually setup the build artifacts so you can select them from the run/debug configuration dialog. Once you start the debug session, if you change a class file, under the Run menu select Reload Changed Classes. Once your project is setup correctly the hot deployment feature is fairly easy to use.

Grant

update on Frame deactivation only works when your artifact is configured to be exploded.

I guess I was really hoping for a good example from the IDEA folks.

Although IDEA is no doubt really powerful, without helpful documentation and tutorials, many of the features aren't easy to use.

I wish IDEA spent more time on making the current product easier to use than adding more and more and more ... features.

- M

In my experience, IDEA development is strongly driven by end-user feature and functionality requests.

You'd adopt a "Just say 'no'" policy?


Randall Schulz

Not really, I'd just counter with that good documentation/examples isn't mutually exclusive with a great product.

MyEclipse, for example, has both.

I really like IDEA, but when I'm doing something I haven't done before (like hot deploy), it's not always intuitive in IDEA. In MyEclipse, for example, setting up Hot Deploy is a snap -- there's only one (easy) way to do it. In IDEA you need to be more of an expert on IDEA. Documentation/examples could fill this gap.

My 0.02.

-- M

I agree with Mork. I've been using IDEA for over 2 years now and still find the lack of examples annoying. As well, the documentation is often sparse.

I had suggested that the JetBrains guys write a textbook along the lines of IntelliJ IDEA in Action, but that suggestion was shot down. I really think that the lack of documentation outside of JetBrains is one of the reasons why the user base is small. I have learned to get by without it. Instead I have to do web searches and look around for blogs and articles from others.

Good Documentation and rich examples will be very useful to the IDEA community.

Thanks Viraf.

Yeah, I think sometimes companies, unfortunately, believe that features are all that counts and wouldn't believe the actual increase in product demand if their products were easy to use. A complex product does NOT need to be complex to use! (Hello....anyone listening?). Version 10, 11, 12, .... ????

I believe many technical companies just look at product comparison spreadsheets and leave the product decisions on that level. Usablity? Tutorials? Documentation? Sorry user, these are not on the feature spreadsheet...

There are several books on this subject that document feature-without-intitive-usability thinking.

One of my favorite books on this is "The inmates are running the asylum" by Alan Cooper (father of Visual Basic).

I like your idea of a book, since the last IDEA book was for version 6.

IDEA may be the best IDE out there, but if I have to do something complicated, I'll always use MyEclipse due to the rich examples and streamlined user interface.

I usually try to start with IDEA, but often give up... :(

-- M

Hello Mork,

Right now we're working on a series of tutorials describing workflows for
common tasks in IntelliJ IDEA, and they're going to be published quite soon.
So, indeed, we do work on filling this gap.

Not really, I'd just counter with that good documentation/examples
isn't mutually exclusive with a great product.

MyEclipse, for example, has both.

I really like IDEA, but when I'm doing something I haven't done before
(like hot deploy), it's not always intuitive in IDEA. In MyEclipse,
for example, setting up Hot Deploy is a snap -- there's only one
(easy) way to do it. In IDEA you need to be more of an expert on IDEA.
Documentation/examples could fill this gap.

--
Dmitry Jemerov
Development Lead
JetBrains, Inc.
http://www.jetbrains.com/
"Develop with Pleasure!"

I'm so happy to hear you say that! :)

As you know, IDEA could be the best product out there (and it probably is!), but without really good documentation/examples/tutorials, it tends to get confusing in some areas.

Deployment has been a constant confusion point for me vs. MyEcilpse which is so straightforward it barely needs documentation.

Thanks very much for your reply!!!

-- M

IntelliJ has a very good help system. Have you ever looked at it? It tells you how to set up hot deploy.

Nope, I didn't find any examples of how to set it up. If I go to HELP in IDEA, it mostly shows me the menu items I need to use.

- M

Main help page: http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/webhelp/index.jsp

Configure an app server (you have to do this first): http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/webhelp/configuring-and-managing-application-server-integration.html

How to configure IntelliJ to deploy your app: http://www.jetbrains.com/idea/webhelp/creating-run-debug-configuration-for-application-server.html

With these help pages I am unsure what more you need? Seems to be documented pretty well to me.

Also, keep in mind to do hot deploy you have to run your app in the debugger, not just run it.

It is also easiest if you have your project setup in expoded format already. However, you certainly don't need to have it that way. If you don't IntelliJ usually does just fine figuring out what needs to be copied where based on your project settings.

Thanks Mike.

I'm not arguing that this isn't a good start toward documentation.

However, in my experience, something unexpected happens or things don't work as expected (sometimes, anyway) with IDEA. Once you have the slighest variance from the help, you're stuck.

IMHO, more of a tutorial approcah using an actual example with screenshots like MyEclipse does for some of these features would be better.

If you're using these features already and don't have any issues, I can understand your comments.

Thanks very much for your replies!

-- M