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Survey Results

What features of an IDE are most important to you?   [Edit]

Survey period: 27 Jan 2003 to 2 Feb 2003

Assume you can pick and choose your IDE based on your personal preferences. What features would you classify as 'must have'?

OptionVotes% 
Ability to handle full product life cycle development33638.71
Integrated debugging74685.94
Integrated tools such source code control, profilers etc43349.88
Syntax colouring, intellisence and other editor goodies72683.64
Multiple language support18120.85
Cross-platform support13615.67
Multiple device support9310.71
Ease of use54162.33
Speed and stability72383.29
Quality compilers61070.28
Respondents were allowed to choose more than one answer; totals may not add up to 100%



 
Generalnot enuf choices Pin
DevilishBill4-Feb-03 10:22
DevilishBill4-Feb-03 10:22 
GeneralMicrosoft take note Pin
NormDroid31-Jan-03 22:01
professionalNormDroid31-Jan-03 22:01 
GeneralRe: Microsoft take note Pin
Gavin Greig2-Feb-03 2:09
Gavin Greig2-Feb-03 2:09 
GeneralRe: Microsoft take note Pin
MathieuGardere2-Feb-03 12:19
MathieuGardere2-Feb-03 12:19 
GeneralThe I.D.EAL Pin
Renjith Ramachandran29-Jan-03 2:23
Renjith Ramachandran29-Jan-03 2:23 
GeneralRe: The I.D.EAL Pin
Nitron31-Jan-03 18:28
Nitron31-Jan-03 18:28 
GeneralWhy...? Pin
Gavin Greig28-Jan-03 23:25
Gavin Greig28-Jan-03 23:25 
GeneralRe: Why...? Pin
AntonS29-Jan-03 2:40
AntonS29-Jan-03 2:40 
GeneralRe: Why...? Pin
Florin Catana30-Jan-03 11:18
Florin Catana30-Jan-03 11:18 
GeneralHow about refactoring support? Pin
Drew Noakes28-Jan-03 3:15
Drew Noakes28-Jan-03 3:15 
GeneralRe: How about refactoring support? Pin
Michael P Butler28-Jan-03 22:58
Michael P Butler28-Jan-03 22:58 
GeneralRe: How about refactoring support? Pin
Drew Noakes29-Jan-03 3:54
Drew Noakes29-Jan-03 3:54 
I've never heard of 'too much refactoring'. What signs would you say indicate this? What sorts of problems can it introduce?

The practice of refactoring is devoted to changing the structure of existing code, without changing it's behaviour (ideally this is ensured by a unit test suite). Refactoring (with or without a tool) should always remove unnecessary complexity from code, and enhance its readability, understandability, and extensibility.

When understood in this way, it becomes clear when to start refactoring, and when to stop.

I think every developer has coined a name for a class/method/field only to later discover its usage varied from what was originally expected. Refactoring tools allow the developer to quickly (and effortlessly) bring the naming/structure of the code inline with the current design, addressing old and incorrect assumptions. Nobody gets it right first time, nor should they have to!

More information on refactoring is available here: www.refactoring.com

Java IDEs IntelliJ, Eclipse and JBuilder all support refactoring. I believe Smalltalk has had refactoring support for many years.
GeneralRe: How about refactoring support? Pin
Michael P Butler29-Jan-03 23:56
Michael P Butler29-Jan-03 23:56 
GeneralEverything Pin
Philip Fitzsimons27-Jan-03 6:08
Philip Fitzsimons27-Jan-03 6:08 
GeneralRe: Everything Pin
Nemanja Trifunovic27-Jan-03 12:50
Nemanja Trifunovic27-Jan-03 12:50 
GeneralRe: Everything Pin
Gavin Greig28-Jan-03 0:27
Gavin Greig28-Jan-03 0:27 
GeneralRe: Everything Pin
Marko Kocic28-Jan-03 1:02
Marko Kocic28-Jan-03 1:02 
GeneralEclipse and Intellesence (was Re: Everything) Pin
Ian Leslie28-Jan-03 7:10
Ian Leslie28-Jan-03 7:10 
GeneralRe: Eclipse and Intellesence (was Re: Everything) Pin
Marko Kocic28-Jan-03 7:30
Marko Kocic28-Jan-03 7:30 
GeneralRe: Eclipse and Intellesence (was Re: Everything) Pin
Pater2-Feb-03 2:32
Pater2-Feb-03 2:32 
GeneralRe: Eclipse and Intellesence (was Re: Everything) Pin
Marko Kocic3-Feb-03 4:18
Marko Kocic3-Feb-03 4:18 
GeneralI like my women like I like my IDEs Pin
Chris Losinger27-Jan-03 5:37
professionalChris Losinger27-Jan-03 5:37 
GeneralRe: I like my women like I like my IDEs Pin
Gary Wheeler27-Jan-03 8:16
Gary Wheeler27-Jan-03 8:16 
GeneralRe: I like my women like I like my IDEs Pin
Brian Delahunty28-Jan-03 2:09
Brian Delahunty28-Jan-03 2:09 
GeneralRe: I like my women like I like my IDEs Pin
Michael P Butler28-Jan-03 5:16
Michael P Butler28-Jan-03 5:16 

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