We're going to be using it in class

I'm teaching Java next term to a bunch of students who have already had C++. Since our IT budget for anything non-MS is effectively nil, I've been looking at various cross-platform Java IDEs.

I settled on NetBeans and Eclipse (so that we have a choice) and am running the class on Linux. I'm giving students the Win32 versions of all of our tools on CD the first day, including the Sun JDK.

I suspect some folks like JBuilder. However, it didn't make the cut for a variety of reasons, most personal.
- I don't like the hoops Borland makes you dance through to get a (free) limited function IDE.
- I tested JBuilder from the perspective of a C++ student coming from a Visual C++ 6 environment and decided I would spend too much time explaining the differences.

(As I said, it's probably not that objective a decision.)

Eclipse certainly isn't perfect, but it's continually improving and the interface is fairly straightforward. At least it appears to be a tool that might reasonably be found in a Java development shop and we try to use these kind of tools if possible.

The command line tools are there as well and I don't discourage any of my students from using them. (The textbook, in fact, assumes you're using the command line.)

I'd be interested in hearing about experience with Java IDEs in 'real-life' from the folks here, though. Particularly from the standpoint of someone who already knows how to code but is looking for a tool they can grow into. (Like my students, for example.)

Once you understand it's philososphy it is very powerful, but it has a large learning curve. For example, in other IDE's (like JBuilder, VisualCafe) you set the classpath explicitly, in Forte you don't, you need to mount the filesystems, this is not obvious.

Eclipse as I mentioned is less like any C/C++ tools as there is no explicit compile cycle, you save a method it is compiled.

IMHO, what is missing from all these tools is a good class browser. Coming from Smalltalk I lived in the class browser, where you could see the hierarchy and each method individually. A very good free tool is Teikade, which is a nice (albeit old) browser. You can find it here [link|http://www.pfu.co.jp/teikade/1.9/|Teikade] I use it extensively to look at source code such as the JDK source etc.

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