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JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

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11–20 of 52 posts

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#12
post #7
post #3

I might be missing something, but was are the advantages of this over using Xcode? I'm all for options, and $50 to $150 usd is not prohibitive for an IDE, but since Xcode is free and directly from Apple, there must be some really good features for me to switch IDEs.

Disclaimer: I do Java using Eclipse for my day job, and have used one of their Java IDEs in the past (IntelliJ IDEA). The code-editing side of XCode compared to these IDE is like a relic from the 90's. Once you use a refactoring tool to rename a class and have it renamed everywhere in your project, you get a taste for what XCode is missing. There are several refactorings like this that shave a lot of time out of some…

Have you tried Xcode 4? I'm not its biggest fan, but, it is a step up from Xcode 3 when it comes to refactoring. It can rename a class everywhere in your project, for example.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#13
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I do Java using Eclipse for my day job, and have used one of their Java IDEs in the past (IntelliJ IDEA). The code-editing side of XCode compared to these IDE is like a relic from the 90's. Once you use a refactoring tool to rename a class and have it renamed everywhere in your project, you get a taste for what XCode is missing. There are several refactorings like this that shave a lot of time out of some…

Off-topic: How would you compare Eclipse to IntelliJ IDEA and why did you choose Eclipse?

My current employer (and myself, too) had a history of Eclipse already when I started. Another dev got hired that was an IntelliJ nut. He was able to set up a working environment without "contaminating" our projects. Occasionally we would pair with him driving, and I was always impressed by the speed and quality of the IDE. Once he left I never bothered to look further.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#14
post #8

I love JetBrains products. These guys are awesome. I don't write Apple Code (iOS or Mac OS), but I'm sure it is really cool. They built my favorite Java IDE, IntelliJ.

This will probably be a great project for people who are used to JetBrains products. If you are developing iOS applications on the side you won't have to learn a whole new environment. For 100% iOS development I doubt many people will switch. The integration between Xcode, Interface Builder and the various Apple frameworks is something that will be hard if not impossible to implement in another IDE.

Plus you can't beat free.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#15
post #3

I might be missing something, but was are the advantages of this over using Xcode? I'm all for options, and $50 to $150 usd is not prohibitive for an IDE, but since Xcode is free and directly from Apple, there must be some really good features for me to switch IDEs.

XCode is based on the same framework as the other IDEs, so you can expect excellent refactoring, static analysis, and "code rewriting" features. Also, the version control integration of the platform is top-notch, especially for git. I use IDEA to manage all of my local git repositories, and I only use the command line now for pushing remotes and git-log (I use IDEA for the rest because it is faster for me). Disclaime…

I think you mean AppCode instead of XCode.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#16
post #12
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I do Java using Eclipse for my day job, and have used one of their Java IDEs in the past (IntelliJ IDEA). The code-editing side of XCode compared to these IDE is like a relic from the 90's. Once you use a refactoring tool to rename a class and have it renamed everywhere in your project, you get a taste for what XCode is missing. There are several refactorings like this that shave a lot of time out of some…

Have you tried Xcode 4? I'm not its biggest fan, but, it is a step up from Xcode 3 when it comes to refactoring. It can rename a class everywhere in your project, for example.

Xcode 4's refactoring is still quite poor. Renaming something is akin to a "find and replace all" in my experience. If two unrelated classes have the same method name, Xcode will rename all instances of both classes if you rename one of the methods.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#17
post #8

I love JetBrains products. These guys are awesome. I don't write Apple Code (iOS or Mac OS), but I'm sure it is really cool. They built my favorite Java IDE, IntelliJ.

This will probably be a great project for people who are used to JetBrains products. If you are developing iOS applications on the side you won't have to learn a whole new environment. For 100% iOS development I doubt many people will switch. The integration between Xcode, Interface Builder and the various Apple frameworks is something that will be hard if not impossible to implement in another IDE.

True...Even thought I have never used the Apple Frameworks... you can't beat the integration. That is why Visual Studio is so popular too.

Maybe JetBrains should build their own OS! (just kidding)

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#18
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disclaimer: I do Java using Eclipse for my day job, and have used one of their Java IDEs in the past (IntelliJ IDEA). The code-editing side of XCode compared to these IDE is like a relic from the 90's. Once you use a refactoring tool to rename a class and have it renamed everywhere in your project, you get a taste for what XCode is missing. There are several refactorings like this that shave a lot of time out of some…

Off-topic: How would you compare Eclipse to IntelliJ IDEA and why did you choose Eclipse?

I've used both. I have a personally bought copy of IntelliJ, though I'm using Eclipse now.

For the most part, they're both comparable. Both have powerful refactoring and code-generation abilities.

For core Java development, there's no need to leave Eclipse. IntelliJ might provide some nice features, but overall it doesn't warrant purchasing a license.

When combined with web development, other languages, or non-core development, is where it easily pays off to switch to IntelliJ.

We were doing some Grails work, and Eclipe's support (via STS) was shady at best. We put off trying IntelliJ since it meant learning a new environment, new shortcuts, etc, but after about a day of playing with it, we were sold, and never looked back.

Re: JetBrains AppCode: an Objective-C IDE That Makes a Difference

#20
post #7
post #3

I might be missing something, but was are the advantages of this over using Xcode? I'm all for options, and $50 to $150 usd is not prohibitive for an IDE, but since Xcode is free and directly from Apple, there must be some really good features for me to switch IDEs.

Disclaimer: I do Java using Eclipse for my day job, and have used one of their Java IDEs in the past (IntelliJ IDEA). The code-editing side of XCode compared to these IDE is like a relic from the 90's. Once you use a refactoring tool to rename a class and have it renamed everywhere in your project, you get a taste for what XCode is missing. There are several refactorings like this that shave a lot of time out of some…

What you have to realize is that refactoring is a dangerous concept in Objective-C, regardless of which IDE you use, because of Objective-C dynamic nature. Classes can be loaded or switched at runtime, non-existant methods can be called, and class and methods can be variables. Cleanly refactoring is much easier to achieve in a statically-typed language such as Java, which is why Java IDEs are so much better at automatically refactoring.
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