Setting Up an IDE
You can technically write Java in any plain text editor and compile it from a terminal, but a good IDE (Integrated Development Environment) dramatically speeds up learning and everyday development — instant error highlighting, auto-completion, one-click debugging, and integrated build tool support. Here are the three most common choices.
IntelliJ IDEA
IntelliJ IDEA, made by JetBrains, is by far the most popular Java IDE today, especially for new projects. The free Community Edition covers everything a learner or most open-source developers need: smart code completion, powerful refactoring tools, an excellent built-in debugger, and out-of-the-box support for Maven and Gradle projects. The paid Ultimate Edition adds support for web frameworks, enterprise tooling, and database clients on top of that.
Eclipse
Eclipse is an older, free, and open-source IDE that has been a mainstay of Java development since the early 2000s. It remains widely used, particularly in long-running enterprise codebases and organizations that adopted it years ago. Eclipse is highly extensible through plugins, though many developers find its interface and refactoring tools feel less polished than IntelliJ IDEA’s by comparison.
Visual Studio Code
VS Code is a lightweight, general-purpose code editor rather than a dedicated Java IDE, but Microsoft’s Extension Pack for Java (bundling language support, debugging, testing, Maven/Gradle integration, and more) turns it into a capable Java environment. It is a good fit for developers who already live in VS Code for other languages and want a single, fast, consistent editor.
IDE | Cost | Best For |
|---|---|---|
IntelliJ IDEA Community | Free | Beginners and most day-to-day Java development; best overall tooling out of the box. |
IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate | Paid | Professional teams needing framework, web, and enterprise tooling support. |
Eclipse | Free | Legacy/enterprise codebases and teams already standardized on it. |
VS Code + Java extensions | Free | Developers who want one lightweight editor across multiple languages. |
Getting Started
Install a JDK first (see the Installing Java page) — your IDE needs one to compile and run code.
Download and install your chosen IDE from its official website.
Point the IDE at your installed JDK when creating your first project (most IDEs auto-detect it).
Create a new project, write a simple class with a main method, and run it directly from the IDE to confirm everything works end-to-end.