Development environments: using VS Code, IntelliJ and co. properly

In short: A good IDE or editor with extensions saves time through autocompletion, debugger, refactoring and Git integration; VS Code is light and versatile, JetBrains IDEs are deep and language-specific.

In more detail: Code can be written with any text editor, but development environments take routine off your hands: show errors immediately, navigate code, rename, debug, test. The choice depends on language, computer and preferences.

In Depth

Overview

• Visual Studio Code: free, light, extensions for almost everything (Python, JS/TS, Java, C++, Docker, Git), remote development (SSH/container/WSL).
• JetBrains (IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, CLion, Rider, GoLand): deep language intelligence, strong refactorings, debugger; community editions free, professional paid (student licences).
• Eclipse, NetBeans: classic for Java.
• Visual Studio (Windows): C#/.NET/C++.
• Vim/Neovim, Emacs, Sublime Text, Zed: fast, keyboard-driven.
• Browser IDEs: GitHub Codespaces, Gitpod, this site’s IDE, Replit.
• Jupyter/Colab for data work; Android Studio, Xcode for apps; Arduino IDE/PlatformIO.

What a good setup brings

• Autocompletion/IntelliSense, live errors (linter, type checking).
• Navigating: go to definition (F12), find usages, symbol search (Ctrl+P / Ctrl+T).
• Refactoring: rename (F2), extract method.
• Debugger: breakpoints, variables, call stack, conditional breakpoints.
• Formatter (Prettier, Black/ruff) on save; linter (ESLint, ruff).
• Git integration (diff, staging, blame), embedded terminal, tasks/launch configurations.
• Snippets, multi-cursor, search/replace with regex.
• AI assistants (Copilot, Claude Code etc.): helpful, but check the code (errors, licences, privacy).

Getting started and shortcuts

• VS Code: Ctrl+Shift+P (command palette), Ctrl+P (open file), Ctrl+` (terminal), Alt+↑/↓ (move line), Ctrl+D (next occurrence), Ctrl+Shift+L (all), F5 (debug), Ctrl+/ (comment).
• Extensions sparingly (performance, security: check the publisher).
• Settings via settings.json and workspace settings (.vscode/), share in the repo (extensions.json, launch.json, .editorconfig).
• Font (monospace, ligatures), colour scheme/contrast (spare your eyes), zoom.
• Vim mode as an extension for learning.

Choice, exam and tips

• Learning/beginners: VS Code or PyCharm Community; what matters is to master one environment well.
• Training: often the company environment is used (IntelliJ/Visual Studio/VS Code): get up to speed quickly, learn shortcuts.
• Weak computers: light editor (VS Code, Zed, Geany) or browser IDE.
• Terminal skills remain important (SSH servers, containers).
• Exam (IHK): name IDE functions (editor, compiler/interpreter, debugger, version control, refactoring, test support).
• Accessibility: screen reader mode, high contrast, magnification.
• Security: workspace trust (restricted mode) for foreign code.

See also: Terminal text editors, Debuggers gdb and lldb, Linters, formatters and type checkers