IDE

Technically, you could write Spring Boot apps in Notepad and compile them manually via the command line, but that’s like building a house with a screwdriver.

An IDE (Integrated Development Environment) is a tool that streamlines coding, catches errors in real-time, and organizes files so you can focus on what to build instead of how to build it.

Why does everyone use IntelliJ IDEA?

If you’ve ever watched a coworker code or browsed a Spring tutorial online, you’ve likely seen this logo:

IntelliJ IDEA dominates Java and Spring Boot development for five key reasons:

1. Spring Boot superpowers: Auto-configures projects and suggests Spring-specific fixes.
2. Code completion: Predicts what you'll type next (like a search engine for code).
3. One-click everything: Run, debug, test, and deploy apps without leaving the IDE.
4. Speed and stability: Handles large projects without lagging.
5. Free and powerful: The Community Edition covers 90% of needs.

What about other IDEs?

• VS Code: Lightweight but needs plugins for Spring Boot (extra setup).
• Eclipse/Spring Tool Suite: Free but clunky, with outdated workflows.
• NetBeans: Rarely used for modern Spring development.

My personal recommendation: download IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition (not sponsored, sadly).

Optimizing IntelliJ IDEA with plugins (for Java)

Before coding, let’s remove some IDE clutter and distractions.

Disable unused plugins

1. Go to File → Settings → Plugins (Windows) or IntelliJ IDEA → Settings → Plugins (macOS).
2. In the Installed tab, disable these plugins:
   • In Deployment: Remote Execution Agent.
   • In HTML and XML: HTML Tools.
   • Everything in IDE Localization (like Chinese, Japanese, Korean language packs).
   • In JVM Frameworks: JavaFX.
   • in Languages: Shell Script and TOML.
   • in Test Tools: TestNG.
   • in Version Controls: Mercurial, Perforce Helix Core, Subversion.
   • In Other Tools: Code with me, Eclipse Interoperability, EditorConfig, Performance Testing, Qodana, Task Management, TextMate Bundles, WebP Support.

How to Disable: Toggle off the plugin → Click Apply → Restart IDE if prompted.

Install plugins

• Lombok: support for Project Lombok.
• CodeComplexity: This plugin calculates code complexity metric.
• OpenAPI (Swagger) Editor: Support for the OpenAPI Specification (OAS).

Click Apply → Restart IntelliJ IDEA when prompted.

Your IDE is now optimized and ready for Spring Boot development.