GoLand vs IntelliJ IDEA: What are the differences?

Introduction:

GoLand and IntelliJ IDEA are both integrated development environments (IDEs) provided by JetBrains. While there are similarities between the two, there are also key differences that set them apart. This document will outline the main differences between GoLand and IntelliJ IDEA.

1. Language-focused IDE vs. General-purpose IDE: GoLand is specifically designed for Go language development, providing a more focused development environment tailored for Go projects. On the other hand, IntelliJ IDEA is a general-purpose IDE that supports multiple languages and offers a wide range of features for different programming languages.

2. Built-in Go support vs. Plugin-dependent Go support: GoLand has built-in support for Go, including code completion, navigation, refactoring, and debugging features specifically optimized for Go development. In contrast, while IntelliJ IDEA also supports Go, it relies on a Go plugin for the necessary features. This means that in IntelliJ IDEA, some Go-specific functionality may require additional setup and configuration.

3. UI Designer vs. Go-specific features: IntelliJ IDEA provides a powerful UI designer for building graphical user interfaces using drag-and-drop functionality. This feature is not available in GoLand since it is focused on Go development. Instead, GoLand offers Go-specific features such as code inspections, code generation, and quick-fixes that are tailored to the Go language, improving productivity for Go developers.

4. Advanced Go tools vs. Extensive plugin ecosystem: GoLand comes with advanced Go development tools, including a powerful debugger, Go test runner, and integrations with popular Go tools like go vet and go fmt. These tools are seamlessly integrated into the IDE, providing a seamless development experience. While IntelliJ IDEA also supports Go, some of these advanced Go tools may require additional plugins to be installed, expanding its functionality but also requiring more setup and management.

5. Specific code inspections vs. General-purpose inspections: GoLand offers a wide range of Go-specific code inspections to catch potential issues and provide suggestions for improvement. These inspections take into account the specifics of the Go language and provide targeted feedback to help developers write better Go code. In comparison, IntelliJ IDEA offers general-purpose code inspections that are applicable to different programming languages and may not provide the same level of Go-specific feedback as GoLand.

6. Focused documentation and learning materials vs. Vast knowledge base: GoLand provides a curated set of documentation and learning materials specifically targeted at Go developers, helping them get up to speed with Go language features, best practices, and specific GoLand functionality. IntelliJ IDEA, being a general-purpose IDE, has a larger knowledge base covering multiple languages and technologies. While it may have more extensive documentation overall, it may not provide the same level of depth and focus on Go development as GoLand.

In summary, GoLand is a language-focused IDE specifically designed for Go development, offering built-in Go support, Go-specific features, advanced Go tools, and specific code inspections. On the other hand, IntelliJ IDEA is a general-purpose IDE that supports multiple languages, relies on plugins for Go support, offers a powerful UI designer, a vast plugin ecosystem, general-purpose code inspections, and a broader range of documentation and learning materials.