What IDE should I choose between Netbeans or Eclipse

for Java programming if I am a beginner?

What difference will it make ?

24 Answers

Sayo Oladeji, Playing around with Java since 2007

8.7k Views Sayo is a Most Viewed Writer in Integrated Development Environments.

Take time to learn IntelliJ IDEA.

That's me downloading mine (again) 12 hours ago.

I use NetBeans everyday at my job and I have nothing but love for it. It knows how to
do a few things but those few things it sure knows very well. It has a solid Maven
support and everything works out-of-the-box. Almost zero configuration needed. It's
not very flexible I think.
Eclipse knows how to do a lot of things, but not very well. It has lots of plug-ins, lots of
forks and is an excellent RCP platform. If you intend to build a sophisticated desktop
application, Eclipse RCP might be a good choice so your familiarity with Eclipse will
really help there. But personally, Eclipse caused me a lot of pain.
Android Studio which is now the recommended environment for Android development
is based on IntelliJ. This means you'll feel at home as an IntelliJ user and Android is a
big deal. Also IntelliJ is really smart and is starting to gain attention among Java devs
(I learned it's the top choice for Java development at Facebook).
In summary:
Eclipse: very flexible but not very smart.
NetBeans: user-friendly, little configuration but not very flexible.
IntelliJ: powerful but complex.
Giving it a second thought, NetBeans is good as a first IDE.
Written Mar 19 View Upvotes Answer requested by Quinton Ng

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Vijay Dhama, Product Engineer, GOJEK

19k Views

If you are a beginner, don't use a IDE. Make sure you can write code with a text editor,
compile in a command shell. This way you'll have better understanding of programs
compiles and how to make use of things like CLASSPATH work. The programs youll
be writing at this stage will generally be pretty short, and you won't need most of the

features of a full IDE.

Having said that, I think IDE that I prefer is IntelliJ IDEA. It much more intuitive and
advanced than many other options out there.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Murtuza Kinariwala, Error 404 : Life not found.

14.3k Views

My suggestion for a beginner (like me) would be to use NOTEPAD or if I be a bit

lenient, then go for Notepad++ as your IDE.
Sounds like I'm crazy, huh? To a certain extent yeah.. :)
As a beginner if you use Notepad you will have to write everything from the scratch.
This will help you understand small important things in your codes. You will
understand the importance of writing a well indented code.
Also the lack of features like 'intellisense' in notepad makes you write the entire code
yourself and also you get better at knowing a few syntax better.
I do agree with whats going on in your mind right now, that its a hell lot difficult and
time consuming. Yeah, Correct! But that's what gives you more knowledge of the
language.
You will struggle on notepad by typing wrong syntax, facing errors at almost every
compile performed, trying to debug the same program hundreds of time, frustrated
that the entire code is correct but still there is some error, trying to Google the error
messages and then realize that it was that tiny semicolon that you missed, and
hundreds of such realization would make a beginner programmer turn into a better
programmer and a good troubleshooter.
On the other hand, if you use the IDEs like NetBeans and Eclipse, they are great tools
that help you quickly develop working programs. With just a few lines of code, you will
be able to make a working application without any errors! That Sounds so exciting! But
wait! as a beginner, you start developing your applications on IDEs and feel happy that
you were able to make some great little applications in no Time!
But do you actually understand what is going on in the background of the IDEs?
There are so many things that IDEs do for you that you focus only on the logical part of
the program and the design and inter-connectivity part is completely forgotten as it is

taken care of by the IDEs.

So I would say that as a beginner, if you just want to jump to developing applications
and not exactly understand a language and its working, then an IDE would be best. But
if you want to really lean a language and its working in-depth, then go for notepad or a
low end IDE with less features and you will learn better.
Also for your main problem of choosing between NetBeans and Eclipse, Both are
popular IDEs. Eclipse is what I prefer but Netbens is also equally good.
As for the comparison between the two, you can refer to the below articles:
http://mobiledevices.about.com/o...
https://netbeans.org/features/pl...
http://www.wikivs.com/wiki/Eclip...
Also, I read on StackOverflow this response:

Netbeans has a very different UI and workflow. There are no perspectives,

but toolbars and such will auto appear/hide as needed (i.e. debugging).
Build process is different. Managing projects is different.

Netbeans focuses on a smooth, integrated experience sometimes at the

expense of features. The Profiler is fully integrated into the editor (context
menu's let you quickly manipulate the profiler), but is lacking some
featuers of Eclipse profilers.

Netbeans has a tightly integrated JSP/Servlet/JSF development

environment. The whole workflow connects together from development,
debugging, deployment. This is more of a "feel" than anything else.

Netbeans editor is missing several Eclipse features. Spell check being one
prominent one. Quick complete (Ctrl-K, Ctrl-J) is an underused Netbeans
feature. Snippets being another (though they have an auto-complete
template which fills a different, but similar niche).

Less choice. If you don't like one of the included tools, it's unlikely you will
find a good alternative plug-in.


Matisse. Eclipse GUI editors have started to catch up, but they are simply
no comparison to Matisse. Superficially, they seem equivalent...

PS: The Notepad Suggestion was for absolute beginners. As you start learning a
language and start making better applications, you will have to switch over to IDEs for
the additional functionality and plugins that they provide.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Rohit Mishra, Oracle Certified Associate, Java SE 8 Programmer - Coding In Java

since 2012
27.3k Views

If you are a beginner, I would highly recommend you not to use any of the IDEs. IDEs
do many of the essential parts for us in programming and that would hinder the
development of your Code Writing habits. I would rather recommend you to
use Notepad++ andBasic Terminal Commands for writing and
compiling/running your Java code as it would get you accustomed with the writing
style of Java and mainly it's CamelCasewriting. IDEs would generally save you the pain
of explicitly writing CamelCase at all times and they would keep reminding you about
that.
Once you get comfortable in concepts like Classes, Methods, Inheritance, Packages,
Multithreading, etc., then you could switch to any IDE of your choice. If you are
moving towards more advanced Java topics like Applets, Swing, Struts, Servlets,
Collections, etc., where you need to remember a lot of functions, that's where IDEs
come in handy because remembering those many functions is simply not possible.
Then, you could go for NetBeans or if you are more interested in moving towards
Android & Mobile development using Java or you are just interested in practicing your
Core Java features, then you should go for Eclipse.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Anurag Tripathy, Java lover...

10k Views

Netbeans. Definitely Netbeans. Because, it is designed specifically for Java. Eclipse is

mostly used for Android, Python, etc. Moreover Netbeans is maintained by Oracle and
is itself designed using Java.
So, as per me, it's the best. Easy to install and use.

Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Garry Taylor, Writes Java,C,Python, Objective-C, PHP, C#,Swift

1.6k Views

I doubt it makes much difference either way.

I personally prefer NetBeans to Eclipse. I find NetBeans simpler and easier to use, it's
also got better support for JavaFX, which I use for a lot of my work.
Try them both, see which you like best, it doesn't matter really.
Written Mar 20 View Upvotes

Anjan Jagirdar, Programmer, Atheist, Interested in Astronomy, Genetics, Erlang, AI. A

Lifelon...
6.5k Views

Its more of a preference, like whether u like tea or coffee.

I have never used NetBeans , never liked it since my college days.
I liked Eclipse a lot, but since I switched to intelliJ Idea. Eclipse never felt the same.
Its more like try some IDEs and see which u feel more comfortable with.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Eric Hoogland, Software Development

5.3k Views

You might try BlueJ (http://bluej.org) and the accompanying uDacity Java intro
course. (http.www.udacity.com).
BlueJ is a development environment that is specifically designed for teaching at an
introductory level.
Then try Eclipse using the http://Lynda.com Java course.
Then do both in tandem.
The Udacity course is "objects first", the other "objects later". I find that Udacity's
objects first approach with accompanying exercises really helps you see the forest so
you don't lose your way in the woods (or get tangled in the thicket?). Pretty exciting
stuff, actually.
Next, slowly add detail and the tools for big boys and girls (Eclipse). Since

thehttp://Lynda.com course is "objects later", you don't get bogged down early with
confusing detail.
Full disclosure: My college (Western Governors University http://www.wgu.edu uses
both resources in their affordable software development programs. They recommend
BlueJ for non-programmers and Eclipse if you want to program profesionally. I found
that swallowing my pride and using BlueJ first really helped my understanding even
though I had already taken Java a couple years ago using a weighty (and ineffective)
tome.
This learning recipe (algorithm?) has really pulled stuff together for me.
Gotta love Notepad++, but tools without instructions won't get you too far unless
you're a masochist.
Written Sep 22, 2015 View Upvotes

Kiran Kumnoor, A Free Soul..

13.1k Views

Don't use an IDE if you are a beginner.

Yes. Don't use it. Using an IDE will make you code faster. But before you want to code
faster, you should learn to code.
I suggest using an IDE once you are through with the basics. Until then just use plain
text editor like gedit / notepad or you can go for notepad++.
Edit : In case you are learning just now, Kiran Kumnoor's answer to What are some
tricks to learn Java quickly?
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes

Harish Ravi
699 Views

I think it was the year 2004,a guy from IBM gave a presentation on how to write a web
application and he demoed us IBM WebSphere Application developer tool.i was blown
away by the things it offered. Before that I was using vi and dos or notepad and I
hardly wrote one line of code without syntax error.in those days Internet was limited
and hence you lost intrest in writing code at all. Now please discard advices of people
to write code on notepad++ or any other text editor. I highly recommend using an IDE.
Now to the question of which one. I use Eclipse and most organizations use Eclipse.

Very few companies use NetBeans. The problem in using 2 IDEs at the same time is the
shortcuts and especially opening files. You get used to one IDE and the shortcuts are
different in another. To overcome this take a cheatsheet and print it out and keep it for
reference. I have tried NetBeans and Intellij idea community version but didn't see
anything spectacular. I would say choose Eclipse but be handy with NetBeans too.
Written Mar 20

Emilie Zeng, Learning code.

5.6k Views

If you want to find a job around Java, I think it's better for you to choose Eclipse as
your first IDE.
Eclipse has much more supporters and a better communication environment,
including forums, learning materials or others, you can easily find an answer when you
meet a problem.
Moreover, in many companies, they use Eclipse, if you want to work there, it's you who
must adopt Eclipse as your develop environment cause you have to adapt the society.
What's the most important is, it takes time for getting used to an IDE, so just choose
one and don't change it. It's a waste if you spend your time on choosing an IDE rather
than coding.
This is the first time I answered question on Quora, and I'm a beginner on Java too, so
best wishes for you and for myself!
Written Feb 2, 2015

Kousik Kumar Gopalan

4.4k Views

Eclipse

1. Comes with a lot of plugins.

2. Highly customisable
3. very well suited for large development projects
Netbeans

1. This too has lot of plugins and on par comparable with Eclipse
2. In addition it has got DB support with a DB explorer
One more IDE that you can consider is Intellij. I personally use this and found it to be
more user friendly when compared to Eclipse.

Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Sidhanth Surana, Be like sid

4.8k Views

Eclipse. Its way easier to use and you neednt configure the environment of your system
too much and gives you the traditional programming experiemce.If you have a linux
based os I would prefer kgeany.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Martins Jr. Divine Okoi, Life is an Interface, Implement it Properly

9.4k Views

I assume you ask for opinions about which IDE you would enjoy using more to
program in java so I'll omit the technical details to give mine and my answer to the
second part of your question will come after it.
Lemme start by saying, regarding things like this, it's down to personal preference.
My choice of IDE? Eclipse.
Why?
- The look: Trust me, looking up screenshots on google images will not do justice to
this point. You'll have to install both IDEs to see for yourself.
Out of the box, Netbeans has a dull look, kinda giving you the impression: "hey G,
programming is some serious ish, be serious", and personally, I don't like that look. Yes
theming is possible (in eclipse too) but seriously, theming and all is what I do with
sublime text (spoiler alert), not with my IDEs. My point is, Eclipse has a better out of
the box themed environment, the colors are pleasing to the eyes.
- The feel: as always, right next to the look is the "feel". Typing in eclipse feels better
than in netbeans (out of the box, at least).
The auto-complete feature is learner friendly and the color scheme just makes it all the
better. The accompanying animation gives an appealing impression that I do not get
from netbeans.
- The relatively less steep learning curve: Don't get me wrong, to say Eclipse does't
have a steep learning curve would be telling you a lie but you wouldn't need to use any
of that complex stuff until you get to intermediate java programming. Everything you'll
need as a beginner would be in the open and right in front of you. Opening menus as a
matter of fact will soon become unnecessary to you as a learner.

- Weight: Running eclipse on your PC will be of little work load to your PC. I don't
expect you to be running heavy software like Photoshop and the like while
programming though, concentration is key, and even if you do, your system will be just
fine.
SO, what difference will using either IDE make? nothing worth writing home about. If
there's anything you can do in netbeans that isn't natively present in eclipse (as
Netbeans fanboys like to hurl at me), I bet you $5 there's an eclipse plugin for it
available free of charge, and if it's an important enough feature then it will be set in the
next upgrade.
Why should you use a simple text editor as a beginner before switching to an IDE?
I think it really doesn't matter whether you begin with an IDE or a simple text editor.
Text editors like Sublime text and Notepad++ come with the auto-complete feature,
although not as equipped as the IDEs themselves. You will miss out on the core
integration of the language (for lack of a better term), but if you're a fast learner that
wouldn't be of any problem to you, thus, this reason seems irrelevant.
Example: Say you create a class with private instance variables (instantiated of course),
and then you create another class within the same package (which will be defined
within a default package in the java project giving that you didn't make the
specifications yourself), which is to use the private variables present in the first class,
without creating the access modifiers Eclipse will offer to auto-generate everything for
you.
- When I just begun learning how to program and was new to encapsulation and
inheritance I just did as the IDE told me and allowed it to make the auto-generations
for me, until I understood the concepts I was not able to appreciate the available
features. This is just one example among others.
So basically, what everyone's saying is: for you to be able to appreciate the existence of
IDEs you'll have to be able to program first with a simple text editor and that will also
help you get the hang of the whole thing better. You'll be able to create a cast for your
code and have the IDE fill in the rest for you without getting lost, LIKE A BOSS.
Written Jul 13, 2015 View Upvotes

Ishan Jain, curious, thinker, programmer

2.6k Views

As others suggested, use some text editing software like notepad++ or any other simple
text editor you like, but without the things like auto complete. If you have decided to
move to some IDE, i would say at least get your hands dirty with all the major ones. If
you try to look for 'the best' IDE, you will be looking forever. Do not waste much time
on this and try to use both and form an opinion of your own.
Written Jul 8, 2015

Swapnil Bhargava, I write code.

3.9k Views

Since you are a beginner you can start with Notepad and then shift to netbeans when
you are comfortable remembering and using various aspects and constructs of the
language. Happy coding :). Thanks for the A 2 A.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Aditya Paliwal, I'd rather have some bacon than upvotes :P

3.2k Views

Don't use an IDE unless you are working with a very large code with multiple
directories. You will learn from the mistakes you make and get a deeper understanding
of your code.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Anirban Ghoshal, I program (C mostly).

3.1k Views

A2A. I used JAVA IDE's like 5-6 years ago when I was in college. I haven't used any
since. I used to think that NetBeans was easier to work at AWT/Swing based
applications but Eclipse was way more convenient when working on Core Java kind
(code intensive) applications.
But I could be wrong - it's been ages since and both have evolved considerably.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Sravan Patti, Used Eclipse for 7 years and switched to IntelliJ

268 Views

As everyone said here, if you are a new bee to Java, I would recommend some text
editor. Else, IntelliJ without any hesitation.
I had to open a XSD which was about 25MB in Eclipse and it used to take at least a
minute and sometimes used to crash. The same file, when I opened it in IntelliJ, it just
took couple of seconds.
Written Mar 24

Dinesh Bhagat
2.6k Views

Since you are learning java, i suggest you to start with notepad++ as your editor to
write your code compile and run using commandline,
then go for any ide
i prefer eclipse ide compare to netbeans.
jetbrains inteliJ is the best available licensed ide for java developer (Community free
version is also available)
if you use ide, you may not ne able remember good java apis
Updated Jan 14

Kousik Nandy
4.6k Views

Personally, I use Emacs. It may be difficult for a beginner so the I'll suggest Eclipse as
alternative. Yes it hides some complexities from the programmers, but once you
understand it, you don't want to be bothered by them over and over again. For example
once you know that you can only call the public methods of an object, it saves a lot of
time if the ide suggests the names of the methods. If written in notepad everytime you
have to look the class up. It's been designed this way so that you can concentrate on
problem at hand and not get burdened by language artifacts. Another good thing about
Eclipse is it supports multiple languages so when a large project is written in multiple
layers in different languages you can use the same environment for java, C++ or
python.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Kartikeya Singh
3.1k Views

In decreasing order of ease of codingEclipse for beginners

Netbeans for professionals
Notepad++ for experts
.
.
.
.
.
And if you really wanna impress your batchmates try and code in "vi". God level
reached !
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person

Ahmed Malik
1.8k Views

For a beginner i will not recommend IDE as it will spoil your coding habit.
When you learn basics of Java then you can you any IDE of your choice.
For advance concepts use Net Beans
For Mobile Application Development use Eclipse.
Written Aug 6, 2015

Rahul Vaish, Theist

2.2k Views

For learning core java I started with NetBeans IDE and for J2EE applications I started
with eclipse IDE.
It was just the way followed, during our professional Java training.
Written Dec 9, 2014 View Upvotes Answer requested by 1 person