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I'm about to join a new (Java) development team and a thought came to mind - do they use Eclipse? I have been working with Eclipse for the past 6 years and don't see myself switching to another IDE if the team is using that IDE (e.g. IntelliJ).

Is it a problem to use different IDEs in the same development team?

mauris
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RonK
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  • I wouldn't recommend it - it's only going to increase the ["works on my machine"](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2007/03/the-works-on-my-machine-certification-program.html) incidence rate. – Matt Ball Apr 08 '11 at 23:51
  • Thanks, I agree with the points you made - though I have to confess that I hate to switch from tools that I like :) – RonK Apr 09 '11 at 10:59

4 Answers4

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Yes. It's a problem.

As a 3-decade contractor -- having been to a new client (on average) every 6 months -- I have some advice.

Get over it.

Seriously. Whatever they're using is fine, really. Use it. Learn it.

Why?

A) You'll know more IDE's, be more valuable, and more skilled.

B) You can share knowledge more easily.

C) The point is not the tools. The point is the product.

S.Lott
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It's not a problem technically. It's more a factor of time and using the same tools as your development team. You'll have to create a different set of configuration artifacts (like .project and .classpath) to check in and maintain. It could range from easy to hard, depending on how their project(s) are setup. You should also consider that it'll be harder to get support and give support inside your team.

WhiteFang34
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I work at a company where we recommend using IntelliJ, but some people use Eclipse. It's not really a big issue to be honest. It depends on how the company structures the code.

Just as a sidenote: I used to use eclipse, but since I started using IntelliJ, I'm never going back. It's just so much nicer to work with. Once you get the hang of all the shortcuts, I can honestly say that intellij is better for me in terms of productivity. YYou can get used to it within a month.

Tovi7
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  • Ditto for me. I used Eclipse for four years and loved it, but now I'm all about IntelliJ. I ante up every year for a personal license because I think it's totally worth it. – duffymo Apr 09 '11 at 01:02
  • agreed, unless you are using plugins that are specific to that ide, i don't see it as a problem. – MeBigFatGuy Apr 09 '11 at 01:15
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Is it a problem to use different IDEs in the same development team?

It depends on the team, but the answer is often yes.

  • If the team norm is to use Eclipse and you insist on using IntelliJ, you could get a reputation for being "difficult" ... especially if the team culture is not to innovate.

  • You are likely to cop the blame if this causes issues / inconsistencies; e.g. it results in code style issues, different compilation warnings. Indeed, you may cop the blame for problems that are not caused by Eclipse versus IntelliJ issues ... when someone else says that they are. (Not fair, but life is like that.)

  • On certain projects there can be issues with availability of plugins, and so on. By using Intellij, you could have problems right now, or you could restrict the ability of the project as a whole to use new tools. (I'm thinking of things like Eclipse EMF, ESC2Java and so on.)

Stephen C
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