NOT arguing PITA sides of eclipse. But best of breed in java if you have to include other scripting (Jython, JS/Rhino). VS also supports this but (not tested latest releases for improvements there!) but was not that far ahead there as in C# support compared to Java in Eclipse. AND C# having features one generation advanced over Java is hard to separate from "pure IDE" as it adds to coding joy.


>I picked the one I've attempted to use and gave up because the Ux was not acceptable. I don't remember what I used as a replacement, but it was not written in Java.
>
>>Picking the one I had in mind for "piggish" start up and runtime behaviour is close to cheatin' ;-))
>>
>>In the last 5 years I used Eclipse, Netbeans and xDev3 - not one comes VS prof in all areas. But if you decide depending on the project
>>
>>xDev3 for Access/vfp/CS likeness
>>Netbeans for VB6 / VS screenpainting and memory databinding
>>Eclipse for backend / large project
>>
>>the differences grow much smaller.
>>If you compare the cost free versions, VS will have areas showing weakness where perhaps one or two of the java packages is stronger.
>>
>>IIRC US school grades: B+ vs. C- for VS prof vs. Eclipse overall, B- vs. C+ on VS [free] vs. Java dev tool picked according to task.