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  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Build Automation
  4. Infrastructure Build Tools
  5. AWS CloudFormation vs IntelliJ IDEA

AWS CloudFormation vs IntelliJ IDEA

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation
Stacks1.6K
Followers1.3K
Votes88
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA
Stacks44.0K
Followers36.9K
Votes1.5K

AWS CloudFormation vs IntelliJ IDEA: What are the differences?

  1. Key Difference 1: Deployment Environment A major difference between AWS CloudFormation and IntelliJ IDEA is their deployment environment. AWS CloudFormation is a cloud service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that helps automate and manage infrastructure as code in a cloud environment. On the other hand, IntelliJ IDEA is an integrated development environment (IDE) primarily used for software development on local machines.

  2. Key Difference 2: Purpose AWS CloudFormation is specifically designed for managing and provisioning AWS resources. It enables users to define and manage their infrastructure using templates that can be version-controlled and deployed repeatedly. On the contrary, IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE meant for developing software applications. It provides tools and features to improve the productivity of developers during the software development lifecycle.

  3. Key Difference 3: Infrastructure Management AWS CloudFormation is focused on infrastructure management, allowing users to define and provision a wide range of AWS resources such as EC2 instances, S3 buckets, RDS databases, etc., using declarative templates. Conversely, IntelliJ IDEA does not have direct capabilities for managing infrastructure. It is more focused on code editing, debugging, and testing.

  4. Key Difference 4: Scalability When it comes to scalability, AWS CloudFormation offers robust scaling capabilities. It allows users to easily scale up or down their AWS resources as per demand. IntelliJ IDEA, being an IDE, does not provide direct scalability features as it is primarily used for local development and testing. Scalability in software applications is usually taken care of using other tools and technologies.

  5. Key Difference 5: Collaboration and Integration AWS CloudFormation provides excellent collaboration features, enabling teams to work together on infrastructure-as-code projects. It supports version control systems, resource sharing, and integration with other AWS services. IntelliJ IDEA also offers collaboration capabilities, but they are more focused on code collaboration, code reviews, and integrating with source control systems like Git.

  6. Key Difference 6: Cost Model The cost model of AWS CloudFormation is based on the resources provisioned and the duration of their usage. Users are billed for the resources created and managed through CloudFormation. On the other hand, IntelliJ IDEA follows a licensing model where users need to purchase a license based on their usage (usually per developer). The cost of IntelliJ IDEA depends on the edition chosen (Community, Ultimate, etc.) and the duration of usage.

In Summary, AWS CloudFormation is a cloud service for managing and provisioning AWS resources in a declarative and automated manner, whereas IntelliJ IDEA is an IDE for software development with features focused on improving developer productivity. The key differences include deployment environment, purpose, infrastructure management, scalability, collaboration, and cost model.

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Advice on AWS CloudFormation, IntelliJ IDEA

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
Timothy
Timothy

SRE

Mar 20, 2020

Decided

I personally am not a huge fan of vendor lock in for multiple reasons:

  • I've seen cost saving moves to the cloud end up costing a fortune and trapping companies due to over utilization of cloud specific features.
  • I've seen S3 failures nearly take down half the internet.
  • I've seen companies get stuck in the cloud because they aren't built cloud agnostic.

I choose to use terraform for my cloud provisioning for these reasons:

  • It's cloud agnostic so I can use it no matter where I am.
  • It isn't difficult to use and uses a relatively easy to read language.
  • It tests infrastructure before running it, and enables me to see and keep changes up to date.
  • It runs from the same CLI I do most of my CM work from.
385k views385k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

AWS CloudFormation
AWS CloudFormation
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA

You can use AWS CloudFormation’s sample templates or create your own templates to describe the AWS resources, and any associated dependencies or runtime parameters, required to run your application. You don’t need to figure out the order in which AWS services need to be provisioned or the subtleties of how to make those dependencies work.

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.

AWS CloudFormation comes with the following ready-to-run sample templates: WordPress (blog),Tracks (project tracking), Gollum (wiki used by GitHub), Drupal (content management), Joomla (content management), Insoshi (social apps), Redmine (project mgmt);No Need to Reinvent the Wheel – A template can be used repeatedly to create identical copies of the same stack (or to use as a foundation to start a new stack);Transparent and Open – Templates are simple JSON formatted text files that can be placed under your normal source control mechanisms, stored in private or public locations such as Amazon S3 and exchanged via email.;Declarative and Flexible – To create the infrastructure you want, you enumerate what AWS resources, configuration values and interconnections you need in a template and then let AWS CloudFormation do the rest with a few simple clicks in the AWS Management Console, via the command line tools or by calling the APIs.
Smart Code Completion;On-the-fly Code Analysis;Advanced Refactorings;Database Tools;UML Designer;Version Control Tools;Build Tools
Statistics
Stacks
1.6K
Stacks
44.0K
Followers
1.3K
Followers
36.9K
Votes
88
Votes
1.5K
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 43
    Automates infrastructure deployments
  • 21
    Declarative infrastructure and deployment
  • 13
    No more clicking around
  • 3
    Any Operative System you want
  • 3
    Infrastructure as code
Cons
  • 4
    Brittle
  • 2
    No RBAC and policies in templates
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
Integrations
No integrations available
Java
Java

What are some alternatives to AWS CloudFormation, IntelliJ IDEA?

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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