Overview

IntelliJ IDEA

Stacks44.0K

Followers36.9K

Votes1.5K

Qt Creator

Stacks115

Followers117

Votes18

IntelliJ IDEA vs Qt Creator: What are the differences?

Introduction

IntelliJ IDEA and Qt Creator are both popular integrated development environments (IDEs) used for software development. While they share similarities in their core functions, they also have key differences that distinguish them from each other. In this article, we will discuss the main differences between IntelliJ IDEA and Qt Creator.

Installation and Platform Support: IntelliJ IDEA is a Java-based IDE that is compatible with multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux. On the other hand, Qt Creator is primarily designed for the Qt framework and has extensive support for cross-platform development, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile platforms like Android and iOS. Qt Creator's installation process is straightforward, as it provides a unified installer for all supported platforms, while IntelliJ IDEA requires separate installation packages.
Language Support: IntelliJ IDEA supports a wide range of programming languages, including Java, Kotlin, Groovy, Scala, and more. It offers advanced coding assistance, debugging tools, and integrated build systems for efficient development. Qt Creator, on the other hand, is primarily focused on C++ and the Qt framework but also provides limited support for other languages like JavaScript and QML used in Qt development.
User Interface Design: Qt Creator excels in providing a comprehensive environment for designing user interfaces (UIs) using the Qt framework. It offers a visual UI designer with drag-and-drop capabilities and integrated support for Qt's signal and slot mechanism. IntelliJ IDEA, while not specifically designed for UI design, provides a user-friendly interface for managing projects, source code, and various project-related tools.
Debugger and Profiler: Both IntelliJ IDEA and Qt Creator have built-in debugging and profiling capabilities. However, IntelliJ IDEA's debugger offers advanced features like 'Smart Step Into' for intelligent code stepping and 'Drop Frame' for rewinding program execution, which are not available in Qt Creator. Qt Creator, on the other hand, focuses on providing powerful debugging tools specifically tailored for C++, including memory profiling and integration with external profilers.
Plugins and Community Support: IntelliJ IDEA has a vast ecosystem of plugins and a strong community support, allowing developers to extend its functionality and customize their workflow according to their needs. Qt Creator, while also supporting plugins, has a relatively smaller plugin ecosystem compared to IntelliJ IDEA. However, it benefits from the active Qt community and comprehensive documentation for the Qt framework.
Pricing and Licensing: IntelliJ IDEA is available in two versions: the Community Edition, which is free and open-source, and the Ultimate Edition, which requires a paid license for commercial use. Qt Creator, on the other hand, is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) and can be used freely for open-source projects. However, for commercial use of the Qt framework, a commercial license is required.

In summary, IntelliJ IDEA offers a broader language support and platform compatibility, excels in providing a comprehensive and user-friendly development environment, and has a vast ecosystem of plugins and community support. On the other hand, Qt Creator is specialized for Qt development with extensive cross-platform support, offers powerful debugging tools tailored for C++, and has a visual UI designer integrated with Qt's signal and slot mechanism. The choice between the two IDEs depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the developer or development team.

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Advice on IntelliJ IDEA, Qt Creator

christy

Program Manager

Jul 1, 2020

Needs adviceon

Python

Eclipse

IntelliJ IDEA

UPDATE: Thanks for the great response. I am going to start with VSCode based on the open source and free version that will allow me to grow into other languages, but not cost me a license ..yet.

I have been working with software development for 12 years, but I am just beginning my journey to learn to code. I am starting with Python following the suggestion of some of my coworkers. They are split between Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA for IDEs that they use and PyCharm is new to me. Which IDE would you suggest for a beginner that will allow expansion to Java, JavaScript, and eventually AngularJS and possibly mobile applications?

2.03M views2.03M

Comments

Manabu

CEO, Co-Founder at WinguMD

Jun 13, 2020

Decided

I originally chose IntelliJ over Eclipse, as it was close enough to the look and feel of Visual Studio and we do go back and forth between the two. We really begin to love IntelliJ and their suite of IDEs so we are now using AppCode for the IOS development because the workflow is identical with the IntelliJ. IntelliJ is super complex and intimidating at first but it does afford a lot of nice utilities to get us produce clean code.

551k views551k

Comments

Simon

Software Engineer at Picnic Technologies

Aug 21, 2020

Review

Notepad++ is insanely simplistic. It doesn't help much with the coding, as it doesn't have stuff like auto-completion. Atom is a great editor for pretty much any language. It has a plugin ide-java to support Java programming. When starting with Java, I would recommend it. But, when becoming even a bit better in the language, I would suggest a more mature IDE like IntelliJ or Eclipse. The refactoring and code manipulation tools make it a lot quicker to program. Only when getting started it might be a bit too much to both learn a language AND learn an IDE. So Atom might be better to get started.

335 views335

Comments

Detailed Comparison

IntelliJ IDEA	Qt Creator
Out of the box, IntelliJ IDEA provides a comprehensive feature set including tools and integrations with the most important modern technologies and frameworks for enterprise and web development with Java, Scala, Groovy and other languages.	It is a cross platform integrated development environment (IDE) to create C++ and QML applications for multiple desktop, embedded and mobile platforms. It comes with a code editor, and is integrated with tools for designing, coding, testing, deploying and maintaining your software throughout its product lifecycle.
Smart Code Completion;On-the-fly Code Analysis;Advanced Refactorings;Database Tools;UML Designer;Version Control Tools;Build Tools	syntax highlighting; autocompletion
Statistics
Stacks 44.0K	Stacks 115
Followers 36.9K	Followers 117
Votes 1.5K	Votes 18
Pros & Cons
Pros 301 Fantastically intelligent 242 Best-in-class ide 190 Many languages support 158 Java 121 Fast Cons 20 Large footprint required to really enjoy (mem/disc) 16 Very slow 8 Bad for beginners 7 UI is not intuitive 5 Constant reindexing	Pros 5 User friendly 2 Code intellisense for qml 2 Free and opensource 1 Code intellisense for c++ 1 QML Designer
Integrations
Java	JavaScript C++

What are some alternatives to IntelliJ IDEA, Qt Creator?

PhpStorm

PhpStorm is a PHP IDE which keeps up with latest PHP & web languages trends, integrates a variety of modern tools, and brings even more extensibility with support for major PHP frameworks.

Visual Studio

Visual Studio is a suite of component-based software development tools and other technologies for building powerful, high-performance applications.

WebStorm

WebStorm is a lightweight and intelligent IDE for front-end development and server-side JavaScript.

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE is FREE, open source, and has a worldwide community of users and developers.

PyCharm

PyCharm’s smart code editor provides first-class support for Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, TypeScript, CSS, popular template languages and more. Take advantage of language-aware code completion, error detection, and on-the-fly code fixes!

Eclipse

Standard Eclipse package suited for Java and plug-in development plus adding new plugins; already includes Git, Marketplace Client, source code and developer documentation. Click here to file a bug against Eclipse Platform.

Android Studio

Android Studio is a new Android development environment based on IntelliJ IDEA. It provides new features and improvements over Eclipse ADT and will be the official Android IDE once it's ready.

RubyMine

JetBrains RubyMine IDE provides a comprehensive Ruby code editor aware of dynamic language specifics and delivers smart coding assistance, intelligent code refactoring and code analysis capabilities.

CLion

Knowing your code through and through, CLion can take care of the routine while you focus on the important things. Boost your productivity with the keyboard-centric approach (Vim-emulation plugin is also available in plugin repository), full coding assistance, smart and relevant code completion, fast project navigation, intelligent intention actions, and reliable refactorings.

Xcode

The Xcode IDE is at the center of the Apple development experience. Tightly integrated with the Cocoa and Cocoa Touch frameworks, Xcode is an incredibly productive environment for building amazing apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.