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  1. Stackups
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  4. IDE
  5. Arduino IDE vs IntelliJ IDEA

Arduino IDE vs IntelliJ IDEA

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Stacks44.0K
Followers36.9K
Votes1.5K
Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE
Stacks146
Followers118
Votes1

Arduino IDE vs IntelliJ IDEA: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Arduino IDE and IntelliJ IDEA

Arduino IDE and IntelliJ IDEA are two popular development environments used for programming and developing applications. While both IDEs provide tools and features to simplify the development process, there are several key differences between them.

  1. Languages Supported: Arduino IDE primarily supports the programming language specific to Arduino boards, which is a simplified version of C++. On the other hand, IntelliJ IDEA offers support for a wide range of programming languages including Java, Kotlin, Python, and many more. This makes IntelliJ IDEA a more versatile choice for developers working with different languages.

  2. Code Assistance and Auto-Completion: IntelliJ IDEA is known for its advanced code assistance and auto-completion features. It provides intelligent suggestions, code hints, and a comprehensive set of code snippets to improve productivity. Arduino IDE, on the other hand, offers limited code assistance features and lacks the advanced auto-completion functionality provided by IntelliJ IDEA.

  3. Extensibility and Plugins: IntelliJ IDEA has a robust ecosystem of plugins that can be installed to extend its capabilities. These plugins provide additional features, integration with other tools, and support for specific frameworks. Arduino IDE, on the other hand, has limited extensibility options and lacks a wide range of plugins. This makes IntelliJ IDEA a preferred choice for developers who require extensive customization and integration options.

  4. Debugging and Testing: IntelliJ IDEA offers powerful debugging and testing capabilities. It provides a comprehensive debugger with breakpoints, watches, and step-by-step debugging functionality. Additionally, IntelliJ IDEA supports various testing frameworks and provides tools for unit testing, code coverage analysis, and test report generation. Arduino IDE, on the other hand, has limited debugging capabilities and lacks comprehensive testing support.

  5. User Interface and Customization: IntelliJ IDEA offers a highly customizable user interface, allowing developers to personalize their workspace and configure their preferred settings. It provides various themes, color schemes, and layout options. Arduino IDE, on the other hand, has a more basic and limited user interface with minimal customization options.

  6. Project Management and Version Control: IntelliJ IDEA provides robust project management features, allowing developers to organize their code into projects, modules, and libraries. It also integrates seamlessly with popular version control systems such as Git, allowing for efficient collaboration and code versioning. Arduino IDE, on the other hand, lacks comprehensive project management features and has limited support for version control systems.

In summary, the key differences between Arduino IDE and IntelliJ IDEA include the supported languages, code assistance and auto-completion features, extensibility and plugin support, debugging and testing capabilities, user interface customization options, and project management and version control features.

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Advice on IntelliJ IDEA, Arduino IDE

christy
christy

Program Manager

Jul 1, 2020

Needs adviceonPythonPythonEclipseEclipseIntelliJ IDEAIntelliJ 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
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
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.

338 views338
Comments

Detailed Comparison

IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Arduino IDE
Arduino IDE

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 makes it easy to write code and upload it to the board. It runs on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The environment is written in Java and based on Processing and other open-source software.

Smart Code Completion;On-the-fly Code Analysis;Advanced Refactorings;Database Tools;UML Designer;Version Control Tools;Build Tools
cross platform;
Statistics
Stacks
44.0K
Stacks
146
Followers
36.9K
Followers
118
Votes
1.5K
Votes
1
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
    Not nearly as many tools to integrate as vs code
Pros
  • 1
    Larger community online
Cons
  • 1
    No debugger
Integrations
Java
Java
Linux
Linux
Windows
Windows
macOS
macOS
Arduino
Arduino

What are some alternatives to IntelliJ IDEA, Arduino IDE?

PhpStorm

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

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

WebStorm

WebStorm

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

NetBeans IDE

NetBeans IDE

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

PyCharm

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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