Author Topic: Use SlickEdit or Eclipse  (Read 5683 times)

apnakon

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Use SlickEdit or Eclipse
« on: September 28, 2007, 02:34:59 PM »
HI All,

I have a general question to ask in relation to SlickEdit versus Eclipse for Java development work.

I am an avid SlickEdit user and owner.  I am going to start learning / doing some work in Java (my main areas are Oracle and UNIX).
I friend of mine at work has very strongly recommended Eclipse as a Java IDE over anything else.

Now, I don't know much about Java and the requirements for developing in it (my background is 'C', pl/sql, sql, Perl, scripting, etc.).
I would be very interested, and would appreciate, some input from the SlickEdit community re. comparing SlickEdit v12 to Eclipse - the pro's / cons of each, and actual developer experiences.

What I want to do is start my voyage into Java on one development platform, and stay there.

Many thanks in advance,

Adrian.

apnakon

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Re: Use SlickEdit or Eclipse
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2007, 09:30:19 AM »
Hi Again,

Is it possible that someone at SlickEdit could answer my question?

I would appreciate any input.  Scott, I would be interested to hear your opinion.  :)


Many Thanks,

Adrian.

ScottW, VP of Dev

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Re: Use SlickEdit or Eclipse
« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2007, 03:50:44 PM »
Sorry, I had a busy day on Friday and missed this post. SlickEdit is an oustanding Java editor. All of the great symbol analysis, rapid navigation, and keyboard-centric behaviors that you are used to in your other languages work just as well for Java. We also offer some additional features, like Organize Imports and Real Time Error Notification that you will enjoy.

Our focus is to provide all the essentials for writing Java code. We do not have the facilities that some J2EE developers like for deploying to application servers, or tools for working with things like Struts are JFaces, though. If you find that this is an important capability for you, then using Eclipse with something like MyEclipse would be a good direction. Our SlickEdit Plug-in for Eclipse will then allow you to use the familiar SlickEdit editing capabilities inside of Eclipse.

I think you will find that staying within a single editor for all of your languages will do more for your coding productivity. I would definitely start with SlickEdit and see where you need additional tools/facilities. When you believe that those missing elements make a greater impact to your productivity, then consider moving over to Eclipse.

I hope this helps.

--Scott

apnakon

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Re: Use SlickEdit or Eclipse
« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2007, 04:06:16 PM »
Hi Scott,

Many thanks for your reply.  :)

I thought about this over the weekend and decided to start out with SlickEdit and see how things go.
I agree with you - I'd much prefer to stay with one editor for all my work - easier to keep track of things that way rather than having multiple different environments.

I won't be doing anything fancy with Java (well, not in the beginning anyway), so I think I should be Ok on that front.

Thanks Again,

Adrian.


jkwuc89

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Re: Use SlickEdit or Eclipse
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2007, 02:38:55 PM »
Personally, I use both as part of my Java development tool set.  Eclipse is my primary Java IDE.  SlickEdit is my primary "power editor".  In my opinion, Eclipse is unparalleled when it comes to managing Java source.  Once you have a project set up, Eclipse does an incredible job of keeping everything in sync and up to date automatically (conversely, I have found SlickEdit's use of tags to be a bit awkward to use and maintain).  When editing Java source, Eclipse will use its understanding of your project to automatically compile the source your editing and flag errors as you type.  This is especially helpful for the very large projects I currently work on.  And when it comes to refactoring, I have found no other tool that comes close to what Eclipse does.

Despite Eclipse's strengths, there are many times where I need to use a more powerful editor so I will use "Open With..." under Eclipse to open files inside SlickEdit.  SlickEdit's ability to record and play back macros to do lots of repetitive edits is unparalleled.  And it's support for a clipboard ring also is a tremendous time saver.

Therefore, I recommend you try both when doing Java development.  You may find that using both in tandem is quite productive.