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I've been using Slickedit for about ten years. I really like it. Eclipse has almost become a standard in the Java community, so I think it might it might pay to learn a little bit of it to make transitioning to new jobs easier ( I own my own copy). My experience has been that bosses/coworkers are less hostile to me using Slickedit once they see what it can do and if they see that I can manipulate code their way on their computers when discussing a problem.

To that end I was wondering what features Eclipse has that Slickedit does not......or what features seem easier, more efficient in Eclipse.

Thanks in advance

Steve
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  • Not a Java user I can't comment on most except to say that trying eclipse after SlickEdit (new job situation) was a pain in the neck. That said, doesnt SlickEdit have Eclipse plugins? maybe this way you can get the best of both worlds (I never tried the eclipse plugins) – nhed Jul 13 '11 at 20:37

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I've never used Slickedit either, except for a trial several years back, I think, but here's a quick list of other features to consider (from both Eclipse and IntelliJ IDEA):

  • As fvu mentioned, lots of common refactorings like extract variable, parameter, field, constant, method, class, interface, superclass; pull up and push down members; surround with...; move, copy, clone, rename classes, methods, variables, etc.
  • Templates that let you type a short combo and a hotkey to create commonly-typed blocks, like "psvm" expands to a main method, "sout" expands to System.out.println(); lots of these included, plus able to create your own
  • Advanced plain text or regex search and replace and "Find usages" of variables, methods, classes, etc. in specific scopes like project, project + libraries, custom paths and files using regex path matching
  • Extremely smart and fast code completion (moreso in IntelliJ than Eclipse) with different completion modes that learns your usage patterns and can suggest appropriate completions based on context, expected types for your current location, and more in Java, XML files, and technology-specific files like Spring, Hibernate, Ant, Maven, etc.
  • Hundreds of "intentions" that, with a couple of keypresses, will do things like create classes, methods, getters, setters, constructors, and other language constructs; reverse conditions; split/join variable declarations and initializations; add a field to a constructor's parameters; add imports; add maven dependencies; ... and on and on
  • Integrate with all your other dev tools like web servers, databases, build tools, version control, issue trackers, etc., so that you can control them all from the IDE

That's the major stuff off the top of my head. I hope it gives you some idea of what to expect in the popular IDEs. If Slickedit does all that stuff well, you should have an easy time picking up another IDE.

Ryan Stewart
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By what I can find on their website and focusing on Java there's no support for refactoring (IMO that's a biggie), and no background compilation for syntax check.

Also - but that's maybe why they call it an editor and not an IDE - I see no support for compiling/building and packaging applications, eg with ant tasks.

fvu
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  • Hi FVU. Slickedit is a full IDE. It has all of those things and to a sophisticated degree. Like I wrote I've been using it for 10 years. I think the fault is mine in not asking for opinions from people who have developed in both. Reading lists of features and looking at screenshots helps, but it isn't a great way to get a sense of what a piece of software is like. Thanks for your opinion – Steve Jul 13 '11 at 01:34
  • I wasn't using the term editor to belittle the product, just tried to figure out from their website what it can do - and the website maybe does the product a disservice... Just fyi I briefly tested SlickEdit in the good old days but then settled on MultiEdit. :-) Anyways, I think that a product that costs 299$ a seat whereas the major competition is some flavor of free better bring some super compelling features into the arena. Too bad you can't demo SlickEdit for me, I'm always looking for productivity-enhancing tools. – fvu Jul 13 '11 at 08:13
  • Hi FVU, thanks for the note. I didn't take you as belittling VSE. I agree their web site doesn't sell the product well. The cost ( there are significant discounts for shops that buy multiple licensees ) is worth it....or so I thought these past 12 years until I've been going through a tutorial with WebLogics beefed up version of Eclipse. I've been impressed with Eclipse so far. I'm just trying to get an advanced view over where I am with it to see if it is significantly better than VSE beyond just the cost and its current popularity. – Steve Jul 15 '11 at 14:41