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Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

neil.computer

51–60 of 420 posts

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#51
post #25
post #18

After years of using IntelliJ I finally moved to VSCode. IntelliJ simply could do C/C++ but they chose to push people towards a new IDE... C Lion. That was a huge blow for me, a polyglot. Then I had a couple of bug opened with them... it took years for them to fix it. Except they marked it as fixed and it was indeed not fixed... Years later! I kept paying until that point, I just couldn't do it anymore. The company i…

Huh? If you buy the full IntelliJ you get all the modules. It’s no different than running CLion.

When did that happen? For a long time you couldn't, say, install the "CLion module" in IntellJ - it simply didn't exist in their plugin repos.

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#52
Eh, I have used vim, spacemacs, sublime, vscode, atom, eclipse and netbeans. Jetbrains IDEs have superior functionality out of the box across languages and don’t require me to mess with and debug a million plugins. I don’t mind a UI refresh, it’s going to be just like the gmail refresh everyone hated it and now we’re all fine with it.

I just wish they would invest more money into things that are actually a problem currently like how slow indexing is and how disruptive it is when you do a clean re-install and it indexes all your dependencies again.

I have tried spacemacs which gives a lot of functionality out the box with less configuration needed than DIY vim or emacs but it still just doesn’t compare to the ease of use of Jetbrains IDEs across languages (I use Java, Python, Ruby and Typescript every week).

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#53
I actually _really_ like these changes, but then again I was previously a VS Code user. I think JetBrains is specifically courting users who, like me, don't deal well with user interfaces that utilize large numbers of text labels. I think they're catching up to "modern design", and trying to skate to where the puck is so to speak.

However, I do want to point out that I don't think the author has actually used the new UI considering they mention the overuse of animations, considering that the new UI doesn't have _any_ as far as I can tell.

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#54
post #26

I find the entire "java world" as I like to think of it, littered with slow IDEs. The "Electron bloat world" editors have been much more snappy in my experience. Typically the "java world" editors will lag out to the point where tapping on the "File" menu will take 3-5 seconds on occasion. Also they seem to rely on "indexing" and while the "indexing" operating is taking place, the entire editor just slows to a comple…

I don't find this to be true. Have used eclipse for four years, IntelliJ for three. IntelliJ is never slow and it's very easy to remove and add modules, this way you can keep the workspace clean. Also eclipse took ages to open, two instances at best could be running together. I run four IntelliJ and it works very well.

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#55

It's a little surprising that these UI choices are not a matter of user choice. Although when you think of the complexity of making a truly skinnable UI, or a component framework (I'm thinking Swing and the pluggable look and feel, or PLAF) Swing that IntelliJ used to be nominally written in. In that universe you could have made your own PLAF and rendered IntelliJ in that PLAF without asking permission. It turns out,…

> It turns out, though, there is a lot of value in homogenizing your application skin.

This is pretty well documented in the UX world, it’s called Jacob’s Law[1] and it states that your users spend most of their time using other products, and they generally prefer yours to work like others they’ve already trained themselves to use.

I get that change always comes with resistance, but I will never understand the knee jerk reaction of “they’re morons and they have no idea what they’re doing” that is so common with change.

[1]: https://lawsofux.com/jakobs-law/

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#56
post #34

Seriously! Their slick, compact, and beautifully well laid out UI is one of the primary reasons I use I Intellij Idea. If they force this update, I'll just not update it. Not to mention, since I now will not be updating it, I can cancel my yearly, recurring subscription too. Hey Jetbrains: You just have to do one thing. And that is: to NOT mess up existing thing. Even if you stop launching new features into your prod…

> Forget what VSCode is doing. Except for remote development extension. Do that. It's the killer feature of VSCode.

JetBrains has Code With Me, in case you hadn't seen that. I have no idea how they compare, though, so I don't mean this as a dismissal.

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#57

Yes, vim + a couple of plugins. It has it’s downsides, but one thing it does well is being familiar, and never breaking a contract. Even the plugins themselves can be pinned to a certain version.

Well, you can pin the IntelliJ IDEs to a version too, and thanks to the "perpetual fallback" license, you can use that version forever (once you have paid for an annual subscription once).

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#59
post #26

I find the entire "java world" as I like to think of it, littered with slow IDEs. The "Electron bloat world" editors have been much more snappy in my experience. Typically the "java world" editors will lag out to the point where tapping on the "File" menu will take 3-5 seconds on occasion. Also they seem to rely on "indexing" and while the "indexing" operating is taking place, the entire editor just slows to a comple…

If you want to alt-click on any function and instantly get taken to its definition, even in a library, some indexes need to be built. At least I assume. Last time I tried VS Code it wasn’t anywhere near IntelliJ’s capabilities.

Re: Dear JetBrains, Don't mess with your UI

#60
post #34

Seriously! Their slick, compact, and beautifully well laid out UI is one of the primary reasons I use I Intellij Idea. If they force this update, I'll just not update it. Not to mention, since I now will not be updating it, I can cancel my yearly, recurring subscription too. Hey Jetbrains: You just have to do one thing. And that is: to NOT mess up existing thing. Even if you stop launching new features into your prod…

> Forget what VSCode is doing. Except for remote development extension. Do that. It's the killer feature of VSCode.

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