#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode for mac os x#
#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode full#
#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode code#
#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode free#

The first time I used the renaming refactoring in AppCode, I was wondering what I was doing wrong. Where Xcode makes a huge deal out of every refactoring: taking a snapshot, making you validate a thousand changes and more likely than not failing bang in the middle of the refactoring, AppCode just makes the changes with no fuss whatsoever.

If you are used to refactoring in Xcode, you are likely to be non-plussed by AppCode’s refactoring support. Refactoring is part and parcel of the AppCode experience and backed so far into the IDE that it becomes a nearly invisible part of your development. Unfortunately this is rarely true for Xcode. Working in AppCode you constantly find yourself wondering why Apple can’t just do this.

#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode code#

You write the implementation for a method and AppCode just offers you the ability to declare said method in the header with a single click without ever taking your eyes of the code you are busy writing. The annoying roundtrip between implementation and header files that keeps interrupting your train of thought in Xcode can be wholly avoided. The intelligence extends to seamlessly into finding all places a piece of code is actually used rather than having to rely on text searches.īest of all, however, AppCode can make changes to associated files without leaving the current file. The as-you-type code analyzer finds potential problems and standard fixes, the code reformatting options are powerful and easily accessible. You can also click and hold from class definitions to jump to super- and sub-classes, get in-line help and auto-fixing for commons problems. The gutter contains a myriad of options that will take you from method implementation to declarations and vice versa. Navigating in AppCode is much more powerful than in Xcode. Not the kind of “intelligent” that makes everything harder, but the actual intelligent kind.

#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode full#

JetBrains is rightly famous for their language parsing and refactoring acumen, so their IDEs are chock full of “intelligent” features. It’s a nerdy power tool more than a philosophical statement. The IDE can do everything and more, but it is also very busy and a long way from the pared-down minimalistic Apple aesthetic. The AppCode IDE itself is very much in the mold of other Java development environments. There’s a good chance that the first you hear about a new technology is by looking at JetBrains’ product release notes. On top of this JetBrains’ plug-in technology makes adding support for the latest and greatest open source technologies a breeze and JetBrains are very good at keeping an eye open for exiting new technologies. If I ever wanted to learn CoffeeScript, Dart or Haskell I know I’d be covered there too. I use WebStorm for my own website development, RubyMine for web app stuff and IntelliJ IDEA for learning functional programming in Scala. This means that once you get used to the basic IDE concepts, you can take that expertise and use it for developing in other languages, on other platforms (Android, Windows, Web) and with other technology stacks. JetBrains offers IDEs that support nearly every language that is available and the more outrageously new and niche a language is, the more likely that JetBrains has a tool for it. Using AppCode is as much about growing as a developer as it is about efficiently developing software. The advantages for an Apple developer such as myself is that you get a peak at the world beyond Apple’s strictly enforced white room monoculture. Where Apple is closed, secretive and has a very paternalistic approach to its developer community, JetBrains is open, transparent, friendly and as cross-platform as it is possible to be. JetBrains is the powerhouse of Java development tools and they represent everything that Apple does not. While Xcode has evolved into a powerful and mostly stable tool, Apple has a lot of blindspots and Xcode is in many areas (at least) 15 years behind the top of crop.

#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode for mac os x#

The only other serious IDE for Mac OS X and iOS development is JetBrain’s AppCode and I’d recommend that every serious Apple developer should own a copy.

There just isn’t any room for third parties for it to make economic sense to develop expensive developer tools.

#Jetbrains appcode vs xcode free#

Xcode is free and full-featured, so why would you ever want to use anything else? This is the main reason why there are practically no other Mac OS X or iOS developer tools on the market today. If you are a Mac or iOS developer for better or for worse there is no way around Xcode.