I don't think this is true - (and if it is - I'd love to know how).

In terms of renames - it covers all source files. And even more importantly its not just a simple Search and Replace (which can destroy a code base) it's actually only refactoring the relevant code entity.

In terms of refactoring, it'll do things like creating the method signature for you based on what variables need to be defined for the scope you're extracting.

When it comes to a nice strongly typed language like Java - IDEs are just too powerful to ignore.

I'd say start editing. The moment you miss something from your current editing setup ask Google. The options are there, you just need to know you want it.
EasyGrep is pretty damn good for this type of thing.

Check out: http://downloads.veryspeedy.net/vim/EasyGrep.gif (to lazy to rehost)

I'll have to play with it - but it seems like a poor substitute for what you'd get in an IDE. For example if I'm refactoring something used in dozens of places I don't really want to have to review each one and I also want 99.99% confidence that I'm not going to break something by doing an incorrect replace.

I've found that the review step is beneficial - I suddenly realise a place in the code I hasn't realised the function was being called from and rethinking what I was doing, perhaps no adding that parameter I was about to.

You can change the grep functions around, most languages have a syntax/function aware search.

If you really want to go nuts: http://blog.dispatched.ch/2009/05/24/vim-as-python-ide/

Just to be clear - I'm all in favour of using vim for Python development. In fact that's what I've been doing for the last few months.

It's just not nearly as good for a language like Java where an IDE can make use of a lot of the features of the language (like object types). Java is also a very verbose language so an IDE makes life much easier by automatically creating a lot of the framework code that you need in order to work properly.

Sorrow - what's your background. Languages and experience?

I'm not trying to attack you - because I think there are lots of really amazing things you can do with VIM. I'm mostly just wondering if you've had to work on a large enterprise Java project before since the thought of not using an IDE for that would scare me crapless.

The idea of working on a large Enterprise Java project scares me crapless, independent of what tools I may have

On a somewhat related note...I can't 10 finger type

For years I had my own typing 'system,' decent speed but no regularity.

That changed when I started using vim.

No offense taken - I asked what the hell i'd want an IDE for, and our discussion is answering some of Zurvans questions Every time i've tried to delve into something like Eclipse I want to kill myself after about 3 hours and go back to vim.

I've never worked as a professional programmer. I'm a sysadmin (making Java the most offensive 4 letter word in the English language) that has written lots of 1-3 month projects that tend to be thrown away at the end so i've never had that long term maintenance burden, or big teams. I've written in C/C++/languages starting with P. Working as an IT manager now and a lot less code, but writing code for FPDB in Python.

It's not that bad. I think the biggest problem with Java right now is that fact that there hasn't been a new version since the end of 06. In comparison C# has made some big changes in that time that show what can be done with a managed object-oriented language.

After working with Python heavily last year, I now have a love-dislike relationship with Java. The static typing is a great tool to ensure that you code is used properly and catches lots of bugs before the code runs. However, I still long for passing functions as arguments and the development speed that Python provides.

I don't find it that bad either. I would much rather use Java for a large enterprise application than any other language I have experience with.

Although, I don't find the lack of updates to be a significant problem with Java.

In a pure Java-Python debate - I'm becoming more and more entrenched in my view that Python is really good for a lot of small-medium sized projects and Java is 'better' for large applications.

What about color schemes? We can all agree that light-colored text on a dark background >>> dark text on a light background, right?

We're not all hermits living in dark caves

Notepad.


I'm hardcore.

Even in my brightly-lit office I've come to appreciate a dark background. It feels much easier on my eyes. I used a white background up until a year or so ago.

Right now NetBeans. Eclipse is good too, but I just like NetBeans better.

Also, vim is awesome though I haven't used it in probably a decade. I don't know if I would use it for coding anymore, since built in string completion, syntax checking, refactoring, etc. in modern IDE's is so powerful, but I used to do some amazing things in vim. For pure text manipulation, it just can't be beat.

yes, we can. i've gotten so use to it that it bugs me having to look at anything that is black on white. i wish there were some sort of global setting that would intelligently invert any web page.

We cannot all agree. :<

I much prefer a light background on dark text. Mainly because I usually have something else open on the side. Could be the page I'm working on, random documentation of the language, project specs/documentation, etc.. 99% of the time it's also a light background on dark text. Switching between the 2 bugs out my eyes.

I'm kind of undecided atm on an IDE to stick with for web dev. I've tried out so many free ones and they all have things I don't like. IntelliJ has come closest to being the best IMO but it also costs money. I haven't checked in about 9 months though.

I mainly want something that will perfectly handle code complete and syntax highlighting for html, css, javascript+jquery, python (+ some of the popular web frameworks), and PHP wouldn't hurt but I could live without it. Some type of file sync/uploader and a database manager is also quite important too.

VS2010 Ultimate (brag) - for C/C++/C#/VB, etc
On Linux platforms I'm a fan of Kdevelop, and no one else seems to know it (I'm more of a windows guy who so emacs is a turnoff)

I'm liking a light yellow background with either green or black text, although I'd change to any color scheme before giving up my big screen. 14pt font and I'm still 238x24 with multiple terminals open. Screw you optometrist!

figure posting screen shots, so ppl can get a sense of what works for them may help:

VIM on a CentOS box:

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maybe I'm old but I find the dark blue on black text in your ss very hard to read.



This is TextMate's built-in "Zenburnesque" theme.


Regarding light/dark vs dark/light. I have a weird experience with this. Forever, I've always used black backgrounds with lighter text or all my terminals. However, I've come across websites that try a similar color scheme but for some reason it causes blurriness and I have to close the site after a paragraph. I think they use a 'brighter' white (if that's possible).

Both my vim and eclipse themes look similar to that, Ankimo

I've just been using C++ for the last year and have been using VS2010.

Tried Eclipse too, seemed nice. Going to get into Java soon and expect to use it.