2015-10-17

The top 11 Free IDE for Java Coding, Development & Programming

At IDR Solutions we spend a lot of our time working with Java as our Java PDF Library, Java Image Library and PDF to HTML5 Converter are written in Java.
Our developers spend alot of time buried in java code and we use a a variety of different IDE’s (Intergrated Development Environment) to develop Java Code, so I thought it would be good to compile a list of the best free IDEs out there for Java Programmers, developers and coders.
In this article I will be taking a look at 11 different IDE’s, some are used by us at IDR Solutions and others that should be worth considering if you like to experiment with alternative Java IDEs. Everyone has different requirements and we feel one of the strengths of the Java world is the choice available.
These IDEs offer a variety of features, like: building Java applications, TestNG, debugging, code inspections, code assistance, JUNIT testing, multiple refactoring, visual GUI builder and code editor, Java, Maven build tools, ant, do data modelling and build queries, and more.

NetBeans

NetBeans is an open source Integrated Development Environment written in Java and is one of IDR Solutions favourite IDE’s for Java Coding.
The NetBeans IDE supports development of all Java application types (Java SE, JavaFX, Java ME, web, EJB and mobile applications) standard out of the box. NetBeans is modular in design meaning it can be extended by third party developers who can create plugins for NetBeans to enhance functionality (Our PDF Plugin for NetBeans is a good example).
The NetBeans IDE is can be used to develop in Java, but also supports other languages, in particular PHP, C/C++, and HTML5.
NetBeans features are an Ant-based project system, support for Maven, refactoring, version control (supporting CVS, Subversion, Git, Mercurial and Clearcase) and is also released under a dual license consisting of the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) v1.0 and the GNU General Public License (GPL) v2.
NetBeans is cross-platform and runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris and other platforms supporting a compatible JVM.
NetBeans can also be used for working with Cloud applications, this useful guide covers how to use the NetBeans IDE with the Google App Engine.

Eclipse

Eclipse is another free Java IDE for developers and programmers and it is mostly written in Java. Eclipse lets you create various cross platform Java applications for use on mobile, web, desktop and enterprise domains.
Its main features include a Windows Builder, integration with Maven, Mylyn, XML editor, Git client, CVS client, PyDev,  and it contains a base workspace with an extensible plug-in system for customizing the IDE to suit your needs.  Through plugins you can develop applications in other programming languages some of which include , C, C++, JavaScript,, Perl, PHP, Prolog, Python, R, Ruby (including Ruby on Rails framework), to name just a few.
Eclipse is available under a Eclipse Public License and is available on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition

IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition is a free Java IDE (Integrated Development Environment) mainly used for Android app development, Scala, Groovy, Java SE and Java programming. It is lightweight in design and comes with useful features like JUnit testing, TestNG, debugging, code inspections, code completion, support for multiple refactoring, Maven build tools, ant, visual GUI builder and code editor for XML and Java.
There are some features missing from the Community Edition but if you require more you can buy a license to unlock all the features.
IntelliJ Idea Community Edition is is released under a Apache 2 License.

Android Studio

Android Studio from Google is mainly designed for developing on the Android Platform however it is capable of running and editing some Java code.
Originally it was built on the IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition, created by JetBrains and features a Flexible Gradle-based build system, build variants and multiple APK generation, Expanded template support for Google Services and various device types, Rich layout editor with support for theme editing and Lint tools to catch performance, usability, version compatibility, and other problems.
It also comes with ProGuard and app-signing capabilities and also features Built-in support for Google Cloud Platform and projects can be configured to use Java Development Kit (JDK) 6 or JDK 7.
Android Studio is freely available under the Apache License 2.0 and it is available for download on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux and replaced Eclipse as Google’s primary IDE for native Android application development.

Enide Studio 2014

Enide Studio 2014 initially (version 0.11-preview) was released as stand-alone product for all Operating systems. However later changes saw it develop in a Tool Suite for Node.js, JavaScript and Java Development which is available from the Eclipse plugin store and from the main website.
Enide Studio 2014 Plugin includes:
– Nodeclipse 0.17, – Chrome Development Tools, AngularJS for Eclipse, TernIDE, Eclipse WTP WebResources, TCF Terminals, MarkDown (*.md) Editor, – GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) Viewer, various themes, Nodeclipse EditBox, RestClient Tool.  StartExplorer, Git Add-on, Maven, Gradle integration, Minimalist Jade Editor and more.


BlueJ

BlueJ is an integrated development environment (IDE) for the Java programming language, It has been mainly developed for educational purposes, but also suitable for those who wish to do small-scale software development. It runs with the help of a JDK(Java Development Kit).
BlueJ is mainly developed for the teaching of object-oriented programming, and its design differs from other development environments as a result.
The main screen graphically shows the class structure of an application under development and objects can be interactively created and tested. This interaction facility, combined with a clean, simple user interface, allows easy experimentation with objects under development and this allows beginners to get started more quickly, and without being overwhelmed.
Newbie users can check on values and call methods on them, pass them as parameters and more and Java expressions  can be invoked without compiling meaning BlueJ is a powerful graphical shell/REPL for Java.
The BlueJ project is free and an open source software, and licensed under GNU GPL with the classpath exception and there are popular textbooks designed for teaching introductory university/college courses with BlueJ, and a site full of teaching resources and is also can run on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and other platforms which run Java. It can also run without installation from a USB stick.

jEdit

jEdit is a text editor with hundreds (counting the time developing plugins) of person-years of development behind it. Most people argue where jEdit beats many expensive development tools for features and ease of use is that the jEdit core, comes with  a built-in macro language; an extensible plugin architecture. Hundreds of macros and plugins available.
There is also an auto indent function, and syntax highlighting for more than 200 languages, support for a large number of character encodings including UTF8 and Unicode, folding for selectively hiding regions of text, Word wrap, and more.
It can also  be used for source code editing, search and replacing, file management and jEdit’s is written in Java, so it runs on Mac OS X, OS/2, Unix, VMS and Windows, and it is released as free software with full source code, provided under the terms of the GPL 2.0.

jGRASP

jGRASP is a lightweight IDE primarily created for automatic generation of software visualizations to improve the comprehensibility of software. It is capable of producing static visualizations of source code structure and visualizations of data structures at runtime and jGRASP produces Control Structure Diagrams (CSDs) for Java, C, C++, Objective-C, Python, Ada, and VHDL; Complexity Profile Graphs (CPGs) for Java and Ada; UML class diagrams for Java; and has dynamic object viewers and a viewer canvas that work in conjunction with an integrated debugger and workbench for Java.
The viewers have a built in feature that allows it to identify data structures which allows it to recognize objects that represent traditional data structures such as stacks, queues, linked lists, binary trees, and hash tables and display this appropriately.
jGRASP is implemented in Java and was developed by the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University.
It can run on any platform that can run a Java Virtual Machine (Java version 1.5 or higher). At present the jGRASP web site offers downloads for Windows, Mac OS, and as a generic ZIP file suitable for Linux and other systems.

JSource

JSource is a free Java IDE and is a good option for Java developers and programmers.
It is useful for creating cross-platform java applications for various domains and is extremely lightweight. You can use JSource to run, compile, edit and create java files. Its main features are syntax highlighting for multiple languages and Java Swing components. In version  2.0 of JSource you can use jEdit syntax package and can incorporate other open source Java tools used for rapid development. These tools have been modified to work with the core JSource structure.
JSource is available under a GNU General Public License version 2.0 (GPLv2).

JDeveloper

JDeveloper is a IDE supplied by the Oracle Corporation and released as freeware. It offers various features for development in Java, XML, SQL and PL/SQL, HTML, JavaScript, BPEL and PHP. JDeveloper can be used for coding, debugging, optimization and profiling to deploying. JDeveloper integrates with the Oracle Application Development Framework (Oracle ADF) – an end-to-end Java EE-based framework that further simplifies application development.
JDeveloper comes in 3 flavors which include the Java Edition, J2EE edition and Studio Edition which comes with a whole different set of features.
In terms of the Java Edition what is included out of the box is Java SE 6 Support, Code Editor, Code Navigation, Refactoring, compatibility with Swing,Unit Testing, Version Control, Auditing & Metrics,Debugging, Profiling,Ant Support, Maven Support,XML Support and Open API & Extensions.
The same IDE platform also serves as the basis of another Oracle product, SQL Developer.

DrJava

DrJava is an extremely lightweight development environment that can be used for writing Java programs. It has been designed primarily for students, and provides an intuitive interface and the ability to interactively evaluate Java code.
Its main feature are for it to be used as a unit testing tool, a source level debugger, an interactive pane for evaluating text of the program, intelligent program editor and can be used for more depending on your requirements.
It is available for free under the BSD License, and it is under active development by the JavaPLT group at Rice University.
Hopefully you’ve found this guide on the best IDE’s for Programming, developing and coding Java useful.
What IDE do you use, let us know!
If your interested in IDE articles take a look at:
This post is part of our “Java Articles Index” series. In these articles, we aim to explore the world of Java and JavaFX. Have a look through!
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