About IDEs, Extensions Plug-ins, and Developer Preferences
Integrated Development Environments (IDE) are (obviously) great tools that simplify the life of software developers.
But it is very important to realize that
IDEs are very personal in nature; some people like to use IntelliJ, others like NetBeans, while others prefer to use Eclipse, and so on… This is similar to web browsers, which also are personal; some people use Firefox, or Opera, IE and so on…
Developers dislike being forced to work on IDEs other than their preferred ones; don't force developers to use Eclipse if they are NetBeans users (like me), or vice-versa…
Companies developing IDE “extensions” should really develop plug-ins for several IDEs (if budget permits). Companies developing extensions should develop plug-ins for both NetBeans and Eclipse
at a minimum, which are the top 2 free IDEs, both with good number of followers. Both IDEs are excellent, extensible, and as I said, for free.
As with web browsers, it is about choice, and personal preferences… Maximize developer reach, and top developers productivity by allowing them to develop using their favorite tools/IDE.
ceo