IntelliJ IDEA Skeptic Learns to "Develop with Pleasure!"

I couldn't pass on this classic. Blogger Doug reluctantly discovers TDD and IntelliJ IDEA. From "how do I create a new class?" to "living without it may be hard to do" in 4 days. Nice! My favourite part is the initial hard-core skepticism when he says "30 days is not long enough for me to evaluate" IDEA, followed by a somewhat unrealistic evaluation scenario: "It is resource hungry," he claims, "The box I'm using at the moment is a bit low on memory, only 256Mb... It's an HP e-Vectra I picked up at a computer auction for < $150 about a year ago." I mean, seriously! You can't expect to run a power drill on AA batteries. ;-)

Overall, I think Doug's experience is actually quite common. Switching IDEs can be time-consuming and mind-bending, especially if you've gotten deep into your previous IDE's habits and quirks. Each IDE has its own personality, and will take some getting used to. The most pragmatic approach is to keep your expectations realistic, have enough time and resources to give each IDE a fair shake, and then pick the best tool for the job. Different tools work better on different jobs, so it's good professional practice to know how to use multiple tools from your toolbox.

You download IDEA here, and JetBrains is currently offering a special personal license for half the regular price. Don't miss out.