The new version of IntelliJ IDEA is out, and I’m liking it.
Gradle integration: creating a new project from a build.gradle was smooth and easy. Then when dependencies were added to the gradle file, the gradle plugin came in handy. One line added to build.gradle
apply plugin: 'idea'
and then one execution of
gradle idea
updated the dependencies without losing my other settings.
Git integration: it’s built-in, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’m still making friends with git at the command line. in the meantime, I added .idea, *.ipr and *.iws to the .gitignore list.
Android integration: this is smooth. It was a little rough in the last version. In 11, it’s slick so far. Clicking on an R.id.viewName takes me directly to the definition of that layout element in the XML. The IDE also has a GUI editor for creating layouts — priceless. (I do have an issue with the resources not being regenerated and packaged correctly on changes to layouts. I haven’t yet narrowed it down closely enough to report a bug. Rebuilding the project fixes it.)
Final variables: Type an expression, then press ctrl-alt-v for “create a local variable to store the results of this expression.” A little thought bubble appears containing a checkbox for “Declare final.” Having checked that once, my created variables are now final by default. Hurray!
JetBrains supports the local user group community by giving free licenses to attendees (one random giveaway at each meeting of the St. Louis JUG when at least thirty people show up, which is most of the time). JetBrains also supplies licenses to leaders of the JUG. This is a great reason to be active in the local user group community!