C# IDE UI.

One thing I think the C# IDE will need to combat Visual Studio is a clean, and very intuitive UI. Now, I don't want to mash on any toes, but I personally found the IntelliJ UI to be very hard to get into. It just felt so overwhelming with options and features that I didn't want to learn to use it very much. I think that is one thing that Visual Studio has actually done right.

Microsoft is notorious for the mistakes they make, but rarely do they get much credit for the things they excel in. Visual Studio is one of few products that actually had a good, intelligent design behind it. The way things are laid out and organized provides a rather simplistic workflow, you don't have to spend very long learning the software, you can spend more time learning the language. I think this is absolutely vital in order to make a competing product.

My suggestion, at least, is that the IDE be very compact at the user's option. I'm not saying have a "Standard" and "Advanced" Layout, where one shows virtually nothing, and the other shows virtually everything, but instead things should be laid out in a manner of usefulness. For example, placing commands in the toolbar that are 'rarely used' would be rather non-sensical. Making too many menus is always cumbersome, but at the same time, sacrificing menus also sacrifices features. I dunno, just throwing in my two cents.

0
6 comments
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

For me IntelliJ is by far the best UI, I prefer it to VS, JBuilder & Eclipse.

For one, the design is beautiful. I actually like looking at this IDEA.

It might seem not that important but the aesthetic of it really appeal to
me and make me more happy to develop in it, especially compared to the ugly
(at least for me) interface of JBuilder and VS. Eclipse is nice looking.

As for usability, VS just recently got bearable because of the ReSharper
plugin with the color bar indicators that let me jump directly to the error/warning.
Just one of the feature of IntelliJ.

Not to start a religious IDE war. Everyone is entitled to their taste.

I'd just like to say that, for me, I'd like the C# IDE resembling more IntelliJ
than any VS, JBuilder or Eclipse.






0
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

It wasn't that I thought IntelliJ looked 'bad', it was just plain too big. Too many options all at once...

0
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

Okay. I think I was looking at the wrong product. I downloaded IntelliJ and I don't think it's the product I recall trying. Maybe I have never used IntelliJ ...

0
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

Hello Derek,

Okay. I think I was looking at the wrong product. I downloaded
IntelliJ and I don't think it's the product I recall trying. Maybe I
have never used IntelliJ ...


Derek, I'm not here to step on other IDEs' toes (obviously I'm biased) ...
but, IntelliJ IDEA is the DE FACTO industry leader in usability (and intelligence)
... while there is ALWAYS room for improvement -- if you don't like IntelliJ
IDEA's usability "ergonomics" -- man, we're gonna have to really dig deep
to beat it on the C# front ... it's my guess, the C# IDE is gonna have a
very similar look and feel to IntelliJ IDEA ... because 1 . that's the way
we generally think things should be done, and 2. many of the same gurus are
now working on the C# IDE ...

Of course, once the EAP starts, our ears will always be open to improvements
.... but, in the meantime, give IntelliJ IDEA a spin ... let us know what
you think ....

Best,

David Stennett
JetBrains, Inc.




0
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

Well, if it means anything, I don't like Java either.

I don't like the extra files added for GUI Forms, first and foremost. Anything that adds extra bulk to a project is immediately disliked to me. I don't like how the GUI Designer is difficult to use, but a lot of that is because Java is restrictive to the "Flow Layout" style. I trust that the C# IDE will have a Grid Layout instead? Flow Layout REALLY bothers me ....It's like telling your developers you can't do 80% of what you really want to do, just because they decided to make the language that way ...

My main issues are with the GUI Designer. . .

0
Avatar
Permanently deleted user

Didn't see an edit, but I wanted to add this.

It's not just those two or three things I dislike. But again I have to re-state, I am not a Java developer. So many of the procedures seem very annoying to me. I just hope that the C# IDE is much more simple and less complex. However in IntelliJ's defense as well, I have yet to find an IDE aside from JCreator that was as simple to use as IntelliJ, but JCreator didn't offer a GUI Designer. After trying out IntelliJ for most of today, I think I was confusing IntelliJ with Borland's JBuilder (which is just far, far, FAR too complex and ugly looking..)

0

Please sign in to leave a comment.