JetBrains has created a program for opensource projects, to allow project developers to use IntelliJ for no cost. For this initiative JetBrains will grant IDEA licenses to software projects that: are open source projects, have a dedicated web-site, have an established, vital and active community.

Read more at: IntelliJ IDEA Open Source License

This is so awesome! I have an IntelliJ license anyway, but I think this is an amazing offering.

Bye bye Eclipse. ;-) (j/k of course)

Clinton

Why would they give license away, do they believe that much in open-source?

I guess it means that they are alive and kicking. Time of expanding through acquiring new users is long gone, now it is time to expand through attracting existing users.
Wise move IMO.

I guess it means that they are alive and kicking.

Actually, this is usually a move indicating that the product is in trouble.

I can't think of any example where a product was sold for a price, started losing market share, then went free and suddenly saw its market share soar.

On the other hand, we have dozens of examples where this kind of decisions was just the harbinger of the product death.

--
Cedric

I can't think of any example where a product was sold for a price, started losing market share, then went free and suddenly saw its market share soar.

Laszlo?

Actually, this is usually a move indicating that the product is in trouble.

You would think that, but I noticed a really bizarre trend in the last three months -- a huge 200% traffic increase at our site! I don't have sales figures, but as a substitute statistic, I'd say this bodes well. I made a screencast of my analysis at my new blog.

Rob Harwood
Software Developer
JetBrains Inc.
http://www.jetbrains.com
"Develop with pleasure!"

No, this is not a sign of trouble. Given their current market (& share), this is a very good move for JetBrains.

This is tried and true market segmentation at work.

Their reasoning is probably something like this:

  - People working on FOSS projects are more likely to be using Eclipse or NetBeans than IDEA due to costs/philosophy/etc.
  - Giving away licenses for work on FOSS projects isn't going to erode current market share (much)
  - Giving away licenses to developers for their hobby projects will expand mind share/usage for their product. These developers will (hopefully) see how useful the product is, and lobby for its usage at work.
  - Profit!

Microsoft uses a similar strategy to get university students exposed to their development tools. When I was in college, I could get Visual Studio .NET for $25. Now MS has a vast pool of graduates with experience in their tools they would not otherwise have if MS charged full price to students (Shoot! $25 was sometimes hard to come by).

Apple gave away computers to schools in the hope that it would 'lock-in' users. Look to Apple's current market share to see how well this worked.

Giving away product doesn't always increase the bottom line.

However, I like that fact the JetBrains is thinking this way.

Apple gave away computers to schools in the hope that it would 'lock-in' users. Look to Apple's current market share to see how well this worked.Giving away product doesn't always increase the bottom line.However, I like that fact the JetBrains is thinking this way.

Giving away software is easier than giving away hardware: just put the program on a server for download. If someone is not going to buy a $400 product anyway, why not just to give itfor free? There is no lost profit here. On the other hand, large companies like to buy products because they believe that support and bug fixes are provided only for money. So those who can pay will pay, those who cannot will use it for free and maybe later join the company who can pay ;)

No, this is not a sign of trouble. Given their current market (& share), this is a very good move for JetBrains.This is tried and true market segmentation at work.Their reasoning is probably something like this:  - People working on FOSS projects are more likely to be using Eclipse or NetBeans than IDEA due to costs/philosophy/etc.  - Giving away licenses for work on FOSS projects isn't going to erode current market share (much)  - Giving away licenses to developers for their hobby projects will expand mind share/usage for their product. These developers will (hopefully) see how useful the product is, and lobby for its usage at work.  - Profit!Microsoft uses a similar strategy to get university students exposed to their development tools. When I was in college, I could get Visual Studio .NET for $25. Now MS has a vast pool of graduates with experience in their tools they would not otherwise have if MS charged full price to students (Shoot! $25 was sometimes hard to come by).

Good points. Indeed, open source developers are a particularly important IDE user base to attract ... think plugins.

Fees aside, the strongest argument for Eclipse is the plugin architecture. IntelliJ introduced its own version a while ago, and its been quite successful, but Eclipse still has the edge. Who's going to help IntelliJ compete on this front? Open source developers with an itch to scratch! So it would be a bit unfortunate for IntelliJ if they were all busy coding in Eclipse and creating plugins on the side.

Clover, JIRA, other precedents like this exist: it doesn't mean the company is in trouble. The publicity value the company gets if a high-profile FOSS group uses its software is probably significantly higher than the licensing cost for the same group.

Interesting idea, but the question of who would qualify seems a little tricky. For example, would I qualify? On the one hand I do OpenSource work, and yet on the other I do proprietary code. Can I get a free license but only use it for my OpenSource work, and then buy another one for my commercial work? or... what?

But I like the basic concept :-)

You would qualify for use of IntelliJ while working on your open source project. However, you would not be legally allowed to use it for your proprietary projects. Here's the relevant part form the license agreement:

"You may:

(i) save and use the Software for the purpose of open source development only;"

Well, for people like me , who just use open source , instead of participating in development, this kind of an offer is useless. Thankfully, eclipse is there.

Excellent point there dear, it's so helpful to know that you understand what the offering is and that you can't use it.

http://jroller.com/page/mszklano/20040522#intellij_idea_consequently_loses_its

Now... is Vi better than Emacs?
Yes!
Wait... what year is this?
.V

Just wanted to say that I love IntelliJ and use it extensively. I wish that they would just make their entire IDE open source and figure out some other way of making money before they lose any more market share to Eclipse.

Eclipse needs a serious open-source competitor so that it doesn't fall so far behind all the time with things like JDK 5.0 support. IntelliJ has had it since last year (when JDK 5 was beta) which is why it is my IDE until Eclipse get their act together on JDK 5.

Bill

Hi Bill,
  Is JBoss going to write a plug in for IntelliJ like they have for Eclipse?

-Pete

Hi Bill,  Is JBoss going to write a plug in for IntelliJ like they have for Eclipse?-Pete

Actually, there is already a JBoss plugin for Intellij. For more info see here:

http://www.fuhrer.com/en/jbossplugin/index.html

IMO, IntelliJ has to face the "sad" reality... With NetBeans and Eclipse getting better everyday, you just cannot sell IDEs anymore... Pitty but that's the market decision.

Giving the license to Open Source developers won't help them. Open Source databases, OS middlewares, OS development tools (except good Open Source UML tool), OS web applications in different kind of domains... today we have to face a very tough market for any license sellers.

What they need is to add more valuable stuffs than a standard IDE...

Cheers,
Lofi.

IMO, IntelliJ has to face the "sad" reality... With NetBeans and Eclipse getting better everyday, you just cannot sell IDEs anymore...

As long as there is a progress to be made and innovation to be done the progress will be made and innovations will happen. JetBrains have proven again and again that they can be first and be better.

Pitty but that's the market decision.

Very true and that's what JetBrains are trying to do - set new market trend, and they again prove to be quite innovating even (being more of a technology company) at that.

IMO, IntelliJ has to face the "sad" reality... With NetBeans and Eclipse getting better everyday, you just cannot sell IDEs anymore...

Linux is getting better everyday, yet operating systems are bing sold (and will be)

Your notion of "better" / "good" is not necessarily shared by everyone else, so there will always be users who consider "good" to be something different and be willing to pay for it

This probably is not the right forum for this question. But does anyone know how to change the crappy default indentation that comes with Eclipse.

This probably is not the right forum for this question. But does anyone know how to change the crappy default indentation that comes with Eclipse.

Eclipse allows you to customize over 140 code formatting preferences as of version 3.0M6 (which was a milestone release prior to 3.0 final). Here is a link that briefly describes it:
http://mirror.tiscali.dk/eclipse/downloads/drops/S-3.0M6-200312182000/eclipse-news-part2-M6.html

At last, this means I can kick out the dog slow Eclipse. IntelliJ has been my friend for five years and it still makes the competition look like, well..., not much.

I actually have no problem paying a few bucks for an IDE this good.

I only hope they will provide Subversion integration soon.

Vincent has written a nice entry which tells you how to get SVN working on IDEA, and then Eclipse.

The choice between IDEA and, say, Eclipse looks like the choice between BMW car and, say, Huyndai car (all brand names are indeed just coincidental). The latter is definitely cheaper, but it is experience that matters.

I've been using IDEA for more than 3 years to date and have looked at Eclipse eventually: maybe it played catch-up finally? Well, Eclipse can now do basically the same stuff with respect to features e.g. refactoring that IDEA does, but IDEA is just more intuitive and slick. It just does what I expect it to do, I discover various functions where I'm looking for them and not in the opposite corner... that feeling, you know, if you've been driving BMW or equally high-profile car for a while, you immediately feel when you are behigh Hyundai wheel.

And yes I've tried other tools like Together, Rational XDE, JBuilder (thought not latest one) and wouldn't say I'm impressed. The difference is that IDEA is made with attention what people in trenches need, and not to impress their managers. That is their way to sell, as I understand it - make developers convince their managers to buy, and not the reverse, when managers and other NCCs (Non-Coding Characters) make decision based on presentations and other marketing bullshit. Therefore, their latest initiative fits quite well with this marketing strategy.

Oh, by the way, Subversion integration is already there in EAP version (Irida), though I didn't check it yet.

I have to agree IDEA is really really great. Not only does it have great features but theri implementation is fantastic. Its truly a joy to work with this tool.

<quote>
The choice between IDEA and, say, Eclipse looks like the choice between BMW car and, say, Huyndai car (all brand names are indeed just coincidental). The latter is definitely cheaper, but it is experience that matters.
</quote>

You guys are spoiled :-) Sure exeperience matters but the result of your coding is much more important and this depends on you personally, not your IDE. The point is that: Does it (BMW or IntelliJ as you mentioned) worth your money? If yes, then go for it. Anyway, the free license to Open Source projects won't do much (I take myself as a coder of some OS projects) since most of them are happy with Eclipse or NetBeans... And one important thing you should not forget: Many of OS coders surely like to support other OS projects :-) Therefore slowly but steady: NetBeans and Eclipse will get better everyday!

Cheers,
Lofi.
OpenUSS + EJOSA

They should also lower there price drastically... ~$500 is not a good idea, they do offer lots of features, but the majority of developers (me included) only need things like auto code completion, refactoring, syntax coloring in an IDE. Ant build can do every thing else.

JCreator is a good IDE in that it's programmed in C++, but only runs on WinOS's... I would like to see a Win32/C++ Java IDE for speed of use and not worry about the wigets playing catch up once I click on 'em.

Saying that I'm a big fan of IntelliJ and hope they continue with the good work.

... I would like to see a Win32/C++ Java IDE ...

Meant to say a good free C++ Java IDE in the same lines as eclipse & intelliJ features.

They should also lower there price drastically... ~$500 is not a good idea.

I'm not sure about this – admittedly I get to take advantage of the weak dollar at the moment but $500 seems like a bargain to me. I don't think price is the issue very often though I think the Open Source and Academic licenses are both a good plan. I downloaded an aval copy when I was trying to work out what to use in place of Kawa and was instantly hooked. Everything was where I wanted it to be and I wasted very little time working out how the program itself actually worked (I can't say the same thing of WASAD, for instance, which took me weeks to figure out!). I worked out that my personal copy paid for itself in less than a month in the amount if time it saved me (more time out socialising – this is a product I can really love!).
 
It was quite interesting the other day when I had to change an object interface in C++ (back in MS Visual Studio which was quite a bit more expensive than IDEA). A job that would have taken less than an hour in IDEA with its code reviews and refactoring support took almost 7 times as long in CV++.

They should also lower there price drastically... ~$500 is not a good idea.

IDE vendors should follow suit with the rest of the software biz, 50-70 dollars a pop. Sun is bottom pricing their new middleware suites, which is even for the lone consultant is extremely easy to manage paying for.

Within bigger companies, tools are more the choice of the single developer than some manager with the wallet-- under those circumstances, they will probably be more willing to equip developers with tools that only cost $50 dollars versus $5,000 dollars, with optional support contracts.

They should also lower there price drastically... ~$500 is not a good idea,

500 dollars is pretty irrelevant for commercial software development shops. Consider how much the person sitting in front of the IDE costs per hour (in total). The IDE price might roughly be equivalent to two working days of a developer (in the US or Europe).

So usually a good IDE for 500 dollars, like IDEA, pays off in an instant. The same applies to a good application server for 500 dollars, like Resin.

Juergen

Yeah .... but if you have a look at other IDE's (Visual C++ .NET 2003 Standard, that cost around $100) also yes normally I can pay for it w/i a few days work, but getting it introduced to a development team of say 8+ is a stratergy the financial ppl at the compnay do not want to consider & force us to use silly eclipse (not a fan of eclipse).

I know JBuilder cost a fortune as well ... but I don't know that many developers who would consider it as an IDE to use.
But IntelliJ is always an option till they see the cost of it.

Selling it for $200 is a welcome offer, also it seems like there loosing mrkt ... since every new developer (i.e. CS student) will be told either by there lecture or usenet groups to use eclipse. IntelliJ is never an options unless you've been developing Java for 4+ years or so & know all the IDE's that came out... since there was a time when we all tested every single one.

All IMHO of course ;-)

Firstly, how is a price less than $500 anywhere near a fair price?

IntelliJ is a product that is constantly improving and innovating to improve developer productivity - that development costs money.
The kind of productivity a proficient IntelliJ user would have (over a proficient user of another IDE), the break-even point for $500 is of the order of days, rather than weeks. In this regard, $500 is more than a fair price.

I have no problem paying this money myself, given that it is an indespensible tool of my trade.

As for developing a Java IDE in C++...
<cough>, <cough>
Given the appallingly poor productivity of C++ development, I would point out that no-one could viably develop an IDE of the sophistication if IntelliJ or Eclipse in C++... and evolve it as rapidly as the market would require.

Given that productivity is the reason we develop in Java in the first place, its no suprise that IDE vendors choose to do the same...

-Nick

Therefore slowly but steady: NetBeans and Eclipse will get better everyday

Sure, but the problem is that IDEA is like five years ahead it terms of slickness...

I agree wholeheartedly - $500 is simply too expensive for an individual user. I don't care what businesses can or cannot afford. If the price tag was, say, $69.95, then I would buy it. I won't pay $500. Choice for IntelliJ is: do they want my $69.95?

The company where I work decided (would almost say forced) to move to Eclipse (from JBuilder) because it was free. First version we used was 3.0 M8 because 2.0 was far from having enough feature. You have to understand that we were moving from JBuilder Enterprise. We had so many problems with Eclipse and CVS that I do not remember how much time we lost on this. Finally we found out that it was related to Eclipse not working well with CVSNT and thank god the CVSNT developers do not have a big ego, they added a switch ESPECIALLY FOR ECLIPSE to improve compatibility. Even now with 3.0 final and latest CVSNT, we have problems at least once a week. Proper CVS support is in my top 5 list of most important feature in an IDE, maybe thats just me.

I am not even talking about the numerous crashes because of OutOfMemeryException. Ok, it was milestone build, but nobody will convince me that Eclipse has stable beta builds. I've seen it crash as many as 10 times a day.

But the things that bugs me most is serialVersionUIDs. Eclipse uses its own compiler, yes it is faster but because we have a swing client (compiled from IDE) and j2ee server code (compiled with jdk), we have shared code that is compiled at both places. Problem is serialVersionUID algorithm is different in both compilers, so we need to hardcode them (serialVersionUID) on many hundreds of classes. Common guys, don't try to prove you can do better, use Sun's algorithm!

I am not even talking about the user interface. It is so clumsy it takes 1 full day of training to new interns to get them started. The way it displays information is so badly organized that the company had to buy second monitors to some developers, and thats when I convinced them I wanted an IntelliJ IDEA license instead :-)

End of my story.

The way it displays information is so badly organized that the company had to buy second monitors to some developers, and thats when I convinced them I wanted an IntelliJ IDEA license instead :-)End of my story.

Two displays help a LOT no matter what IDE do you use ( use IDEA). I even use 3 screens two computer workstation and it is really really convenient. ( http://kgionline.com/articles/productivity_ws/workstation.jsp )

Proper CVS support is in my top 5 list of most important feature in an IDE, maybe thats just me.

Odd, we're using Eclipse (3.1M4) and one of the reasons is the nice/productive way it supports cvs. We've had no issues with that.

...but nobody will convince me that Eclipse has stable beta builds. I've seen it crash as many as 10 times a day.

No hiccups here with 3.1M4, I known this isn't going to convince you.

But the things that bugs me most is serialVersionUIDs. ...Problem is serialVersionUID algorithm is different in both compilers, so we need to hardcode them (serialVersionUID) on many hundreds of classes.

Isn't it good practice to add serialVersionUID to a serializable class? I'm guessing that the issue you are describing, not necessarily is eclipse specific but could exist in any situation where multiple compilers are used.