my opinion: jEdit vs IDEA

I have been a long-time jEdit user and recently read a review about IDEA
in Java Developer's Journal. I decided to try it out and--wow!! IDEA is
the best IDE I have ever used.

I've tried JBuilder, but it's crappy source editor crumbles underneath
jEdit's kickass editor. But IDEA has the best of both worlds: "good" code
completion (JBuilder) and a good source editor (jEdit).

(Now to the comparision)
However, there are certain things in jEdit that I miss:
1) Block select !!!!
2) Block delete !!!!
3) Soft word wrapping in JavaDoc comments
4) Word wrap guide (a line that runs down a specified column, usually 80)
5) Able to open any file type. I tried to open a text file and IDEA said
it cannot open that file type (it was a plain-text file w/o an extension)
6) Better folding support (click on the + or - in the gutter and will hide
a class or method or JavaDoc)
jEdit has folds for all { ... } (for, while, do...while, etc) and all
tab-based statements (switch, case)
7) HTML completion (the number 1 feature of jEdit).
For example: I type in "blah-blah" and it finishes the ending HTML tag (inserts "code>]]>")

Also, jEdit has syntax coloring for 60+ (I think) different languages,
which is really good as I don't have to open different editor for
different projects.

Some things in in IDEA that aren't in jEdit:
1) Real code completion (Ctrl+space)
2) Parameter insight (shows what a method takes in a popup)
3) Instant JavaDoc!!! (Ctrl+Q)
4) Better project support
5) Better integration of Java Structure (shows methods/fields in a JTree)
6) Go-to support
7) Refactoring !!!
8) Windows-looking LnF on Linux!!
9) Instant error checking of files (missing paramters, missing ";", etc)
10) Better source formatter !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Speaking of this, I would like to be able to align my multi-line method
calls by tabs:
public static final Font SMALL_FONT = new Font(
PREFS.get("Small-Font-Name", "Dialog"),
PREFS.getInt("Small-Font-Style", Font.PLAIN),
PREFS.getInt("Small-Font-Size", 9)
);
11) Auto-import (Alt+enter)
12) Automatically creates String concatenation when trying to get
multiline Strings:
String s = "blah and "+
"blan and "+
"blen and "+
"bloe";

All-in-all, IDEA is a kickass editor with some minor annoyances (like it
takes up 115MB of mem ;) ). I will most certainly be buying it once 3.0
reaches final; for only $100 for education, who wouldn't?

"Please excuse my spelling. I go to a tech school."
Gordon Hollenbeck | Email: ghollenbeck@NOSPAMmurtos.com
AKA: Thrawn / Jabber: gordon1986@jabber.com
ICQ: 60306035 / MSN: ghollenbeck1986@NOSPAMhotmail.com
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