Eclipse

Short post, this one.

While flying around the west coast, I fell into a discussion of the relative merits of Eclipse versus Visual Studio. I tend to use Visual Studio and, for smaller files or quick edits, Ultra Edit. I did take a look at Eclipse a few years ago but haven't really had a need or desire to revisit.

Our conversation ultimately focused on add-ins and, specifically, how the Eclipse refactoring tool is better than the Visual Studio refactoring tool. I don't spend too much time refactoring -- not that I am the Mozart of code, writing perfect code the first time but rather that I use a hybrid refactoring approach that involves heavy use of ctrl-c/ctrl-v and search and replace. So my opinion isn't too relevant.

Your opinion is relevant. To what extent do you use Eclipse while developing BizTalk Server solutions. Are there useful add-ins for this? Where is Visual Studio missing functionality?

Speak out!

Comments

• Anonymous
  January 19, 2007
  I haven't used Eclipse in a while (two+ years and then it was the IBM Websphere version), but I'll agree it had some good refactoring tools.  Since then I've been doing primarly .Net development.  I will say the thing I miss most is the quick refactoring that eclipse offered.  VS 2005 does provide some, but it just scratches the surface of what other tools do and it's interface leaves a lot to be desired.  I've used CodeRush and Refactor! Pro from DeveloperExpress.com in the past and those tools are great!  I know there are other add-ins that provide refactoring, but all (including Refactor! Pro) come at an additional cost.  I'd be great if there were more refactoring tools available for either free, or wrapped right into VS. Karl