Top 5 IDEs for Programmers in 2023 (With Free Secrets) ✨

Today there are tons of IDEs in the market to choose from, but we need the one, which is perfect for our use case. Now in this article, we will check out the top 5 IDEs, which are the best in the market, and also discuss their pros and cons. But before that, let’s find out,

What is an IDE?

IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. Let’s simplify things by saying that it is a code editor, which has a ton of features integrated into it. A feature like remote debugger, version control, keyboard shortcuts, some useful plugins, etc, makes our coding life much simpler and smarter. It is more like,

Imp: Does it mean to write code we always need an IDE?

No, You can write code even on Notepad or TextEdit.

These are the IDEs that you will need to develop your dream applications.

1. Visual Studio Code — It is by far the most loved IDE for web developers. This IDE is developed by Microsoft, and in recent days due to the inundation of web development, it is getting more & more popular. This one is specifically best for web development languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSX/React, etc. It is used by professionals as well as students. Let’s see its pros and cons.

Pros —

• It is a totally free-to-use software. It is very lightweight, thanks to its smaller download size.
• There are tons of plugins, that you can use commercially. In most cases, these are your saviors to real-life scenarios. It comes with built-in support for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node JS.
• Numerous amount of keyboard shortcuts (fully customizable), and the support of hundreds of languages including all the major ones are good plus points.
• The developer community using this software primarily is pretty huge, so you won’t have any problem using it.
• You can directly work with Git & GitHub in this IDE, as it has a terminal inbuilt.

Cons —

• The major con is that there is no BIG developer community for other languages, for example, python.

Languages Supported — HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, Python, Rust & more.

Platform Compatibility — Mac, Linux, Windows.

Download Link — https://code.visualstudio.com/download

2. IntelliJ IDEA — It is an IDE, developed by JetBrains, which mostly focuses on Java languages. That is why, it is one of the most popular IDE among Java, kotlin, and Groovy developers, who are working mostly in enterprise-level software. Let’s quickly check out its pros and cons.

Pros —

• It is one of the easy-to-use Java IDE, where we have multiple keyboard shortcuts, plugins, and templates for user support. These inbuilt templates will make your life a lot easier.
• Remote debugging is an amazing feature that I use on a daily basis. It lets you debug applications, which are hosted on a remote machine.
• You can write code in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS and work with a debugger at the same time.
• This IDE gives you support for Java micro-services, where you can work with frameworks like Spring boot, Hibernate, etc. Support means smart code insight, instant code navigation, highly customizable run configurations, etc.
• There are other features as well, like automatic code completion, Git & GitHub support, etc.

Cons -

• The main con of this wonderful is that all the features are not free. There are two versions of this one, 1. community, which is free, and 2. ultimate, which is not free.
• It is not lightweight software like visual studio code, and it really lags on low-end machines.
• JetBrains to add a JIRA extension for IntelliJ so that tickets can be addressed much easier.

Language Supported — Java, Kotlin, Scala, Groovy.

Platform Compatibility — Mac, Linux, Windows.

Download Link — https://www.jetbrains.com/idea/download/

3. PyCharm — PyCharm is an IDE, which is again developed by JetBrains, loved, and used by Python developers. Like IntelliJ Idea, it is also used heavily in professional-level software development in Python. Due to its features, it is a very good IDE for python application development. Let’s discuss its pros and cons too.

Pros —

• It contains a ton of features, like auto-completion, lots of plugins, some good keyboard shortcuts, code hinting, etc.
• Syncing large projects of python, and managing with remote VMs are much easier on this IDE.
• You can also debug your code using stop points, & a lot more features.
• It also has a good community to get support. Widely used by python developers.
• It has integration with Git & GitHub. Not only this, but also it contains a feature to have an integration with Docker too.

Cons —

• One of the main con is that it is again not free like IntelliJ Idea. This means there are features, that need to be unlocked after a payment.
• It is also not lightweight software and will perform badly on lower-end machines.

Language Support — Python, JavaScript, CoffeeScript, XML, HTML, CSS, Frameworks like Django, Flask, and Google App Engine.

Platform Compatibility — Mac, Linux, Windows.

Download Link — https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/#section=mac

4. Eclipse — It is an open-source IDE, which has support for all the major languages. In spite of being supported by a lot of languages, it is mostly used for Java application development. As far as I have seen, it is most famous among all students, who are working with Java either to learn or to make some projects. Personally, I have used Eclipse too. Let’s Discus its pros and cons quickly.

Pros —

• The first major point is that Eclipse is totally free and open source. This means you can see the codes, by which the IDE is powering.
• It is also very easy to use (contains a simple UI) and has a lot of plugin support for the developers.
• You can use heavy debugging tools to debug your program easily and features like automatic code completion can really save your time.
• Git integration is another cool feature, which makes this IDE popular.

Cons —

• The performance of this software is not smooth, as there are reports of high crashes, and bad memory optimization.
• It can run other languages, except Java, but not so optimized for those languages.
• You can do remote debugging, but the documentation is not very informative.

Languages Support — Java, C, C++, Fortran, Groovy, Haskell, Julia, JS, PHP, Python, Rust & more.

Platform Compatibility — Mac, Linux, Windows.

Download Link — https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/

5. Sublime Text — This one is a powerful code editor, which has major support for languages like C++ & Python. Apart from these two languages, it has support for front-end languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Personally, I have seen some web developers using this IDE too. Let’s discuss its pros and cons.

Pros —

• Just like other IDEs, this one is very user-friendly and highly customizable. Which means there are a lot of keyboard shortcuts, plugin support, etc.
• It is free-to-use software, and very lightweight, so computers with lower specs can easily run it.
• It has support for a lot of languages, so you can use one code editor for multiple languages on your local computer.
• You can easily run your scripts on a server because most of the server supports this IDE.

Cons —

• It has a paid version, so all the features may not be available in the free version. Also, the pop-up for getting the paid one comes frequently.
• Debugging is not as easy as it is in Visual Studio Code.

Languages Support — Java, C, C++, Groovy, Haskell, JS, PHP, Python, Matlab, R & more.

Platform Compatibility — Mac, Linux, Windows.

Download Link — https://www.sublimetext.com/download

Now, these are considered best when it comes to professional development. I agree some of the IDEs like IntelliJ and PyCharm can cost you a good amount of money to start with. This is why I have added Eclipse and Sublime Text to the list, as they are free to use.

Don’t worry, as promised, I will tell you a secret, about how you can get free licenses for your IntelliJ Idea or PyCharm. Let’s check it out —

How to get IntelliJ Idea and/or PyCharm (paid versions) for free? 🔥

To get the free licenses for these 2 softwares, you need to be a student or a teacher. Below I have listed down all the proofs, that you can submit, to prove that you are a student, and after a small verification, you will end up having the licenses. A small tip is that, even if any of your friend or relative is a student, then also you can use their ID to get this product.

a. Official University Email Address

b. Student/Teacher ID or any Academic Document

c. GitHub Student Developer Account

After applying, you have to wait for a couple of days, and you will have it. ⭐️

Link to submit your application — https://www.jetbrains.com/community/education/#students

If you are still here, and like my article, then I will highly encourage you to check out my other articles here — https://debprakashc.medium.com/.

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Thank you and see you in another article.