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IntelliJ IDEA in Action

Manning Publications Co.
209 Bruce Park Avenue
Greenwich, CT 06830

IntelliJ IDEA in Action Duane K. Fields, Stephen Saunders, Eugene Belyaev March, 2006 | 544 pages ISBN: 1932394443
	$22.50	PDF ebook
	$44.95	Softbound print book

Table of Contents

preface xxi
acknowledgments xxiii
about this book xxv

1 Getting started with IDEA 1

1.1 Installing and running IDEA 2

Downloading the latest version 2

Installing IDEA 4

Running IDEA for the first time 6

1.2 Reviewing the IDEA interface 7

The main IDEA workspace 7

The main menu bar 8

The IDEA toolbar 8

The source code editor 9

The tool windows 9

1.3 Implementing “Hello, World” 10

Creating a project 10

Making a Java class 15

Building the project 17

Running the project 17

1.4 The plot thickens 19

Welcome to ACME Incorporated 19

Starting the ACME project 19

1.5 Summary 20

2 Introducing the IDEA editor 22

2.1 Exploring the IDEA interface 23

Hanging out in the gutter 24

Using the marker bar 24

Using the editor tabs 25

Exploring the status bar 30

Exploring the tool windows 32

2.2 Using the IDEA editor 40

Writing the first ACME classes and interfaces 40

Opening files into the editor 42

Saving your work 45

Printing your file 47

Navigating in the editor 48

Making text selections 50

Using IDEA’s undo and redo mechanism 52

Cutting, copying, and pasting 53

Searching for and replacing text 55

2.3 Summary 61

3 Using the IDEA editor 63

3.1 What makes IDEA the intelligent editor? 64

3.2 Using code folding 64

3.3 Navigating through your Java code 66

Navigating between methods 67

Navigating to a symbol’s declaration 67

Navigating to a symbol by name 69

Navigating with the structure view pop-up 70

Navigating to an overridden/implemented or overriding/implementing method 71

3.4 Analyzing your Java code in real-time 72

How IDEA alerts you to problems in your code 73

Monitoring the status of the current document 73

Navigating between problems in the current file 74

Controlling the reparse delay 74

Configuring IDEA’s warning levels 74

3.5 Getting help from the JavaDoc and API references 76

Viewing method parameters 76

Viewing the JavaDoc 77

Creating JavaDoc comments 78

Generating your project’s JavaDoc reference 79

3.6 Code completion 80

Using IDEA’s code-completion features to do your work for you 80

Completing brackets, braces, parentheses, and quotation marks with smart completion 85

Commenting out code 85

Reformatting code 86

Customizing IDEA’s code completion settings 87

3.7 Using IDEA’s code-generation tools 89

Generating constructors 89

Generating accessor and mutator methods 90

Generating hashCode and equals methods 91

Overriding methods in your superclass 94

Implementing methods of an interface 94

Creating delegation methods 95

Enclosing a block of code 96

Customizing code generated by IDEA 96

3.8 Programming by intention 97

What are intention actions? 97

Why and when IDEA suggests intention actions 98

Using intention actions to fix errors 98

Using intention actions for code completion 98

Choosing an intention action to execute 99

Disabling intention alerts 100

Exploring some common intention actions 100

3.9 Continuing the ACME project 103

3.10 Summary 105

4 Managing projects 107

4.1 Understanding IDEA’s project strategy 108

Examining the IDEA project hierarchy 108

Selecting different types of modules 109

Selecting a project structure 110

4.2 Working with projects 111

Creating a new project 111

Managing project settings 113

Working with project files 118

4.3 Working with modules 119

Managing project modules 119

Creating a Java module with the module wizard 121

Managing Java module settings 124

4.4 Working with libraries 128

Understanding library basics 128

Adding libraries to the project 130

Migrating projects from IDEA 3.x 132

Sharing projects with others 133

Using path variables 133

4.5 Using the Project tool window 135

Understanding the Project and Packages views 135

Configuring the Project window 136

4.6 Summary 141

5 Building and running applications 142

5.1 Building a project 143

How IDEA builds your project 143

Setting up a compiler 145

Building an application under IDEA 149

Reviewing the results of the build 150

5.2 Extending IDEA’s build system with Ant 151

Introducing Ant 152

Improving your build process with Ant 155

Working with Ant build files 156

Executing Ant targets 160

Following Ant’s progress in the Messages window 162

Controlling Ant’s behavior 165

5.3 Running your project 171

Managing Run/Debug configuration profiles 172

Executing a Run configuration 177

Using the Run window console 179

5.4 Expanding the ACME project 181

Adding a library to the ACME project 181

Improving and running the ACME project 182

5.5 Summary 184

6 Debugging applications 185

6.1 Introducing the debugging process 186

Finding and fixing bugs with a debugger 186

Preparing your code for debugging 188

Debugging your source code 190

6.2 Working with breakpoints 191

Managing breakpoints 192

Working with line number breakpoints 195

Working with method breakpoints 196

Working with exception breakpoints 196

Working with field watchpoints 197

Setting conditional breakpoints 199

Configuring breakpoint actions 201

6.3 Debugging an application 202

Executing an application under the debugger 202

Debugging an application on a remote server 205

Stepping through the program 208

Working with threads 211

6.4 Viewing runtime data in the debugger 214

Understanding the Java call stack 214

Inspecting a stack frame 216

Working with watches 221

Altering your program while debugging 222

6.5 Configuring the debugger 223

Managing display preferences 223

Limiting the scope of debugging 224

Customizing the data display view 225

Improving the speed of the debugger 227

6.6 Improving the quality of the ACME project 229

6.7 Summary 230

7 Testing applications with JUnit 231

7.1 Testing applications with JUnit 232

Understanding the JUnit philosophy 232

Exploring the JUnit API 233

7.2 Adding test cases to your project 236

Creating a test case from a file template 237

Adding the JUnit library to your Classpath 237

7.3 Running test cases in IDEA 238

Creating a Run/Debug configuration for your test 238

Running your unit test configuration 241

7.4 Working with IDEA’s JUnit test runner 242

Exploring the JUnit tool window 243

Monitoring testing progress 245

Managing the testing session 246

Analyzing test results 246

7.5 Improving the quality of the ACME project 252

7.6 Summary 253

8 Using version control 254

8.1 Configuring your project for version control 255

Understanding version control basics 255

Enabling version control support in IDEA 257

Configuring IDEA to use CVS 259

Configuring other types of version control systems 264

8.2 Working with files under CVS 267

Retrieving files from the repository 267

Working with files under CVS control 271

Committing your changes 276

Working with branches and tags 279

Viewing change history 281

8.3 Using IDEA’s Local History 289

Understanding IDEA’s Local History 289

How IDEA tracks your changes 290

Exploring your Local History 291

8.4 Summary 293

9 Analyzing and refactoring applications 295

9.1 Analyzing your code 296

Tracking down dependencies 296

Exploring code with the Structure view 298

Exploring the code hierarchy 300

9.2 Locating potential problems with the code inspector 303

Launching the inspector 304

Specifying inspections to perform 306

Viewing the inspection results 308

9.3 Other advanced code analysis features 309

Using Structural Search and Replace 309

Analyzing dependencies 314

Locating duplicate code 316

9.4 Improving code design through refactoring 317

Performing a refactoring 317

Renaming code symbols to improve readability 320

Refactoring to improve class or package organization 321

Working with fields, variables, and constants 325

Refactoring method calls to improve usability 328

Restructuring class hierarchies 333

Migrating source code to new package or class names 338

9.5 Summary 339

10 Developing Swing applications 341

10.1 Understanding the GUI Designer 342

The GUI-building process 342

Working with the user interface 343

10.2 Working with forms 345

Creating a new form 345

Placing components into the workspace 345

Setting component properties 347

Laying out a form 348

10.3 Designing an ACME GUI 351

Creating a new GUI form in IDEA 351

Manually creating the basic layout 351

Applying the grid layout 352

Setting component properties 352

Touching up the final interface 352

10.4 Understanding properties 353

Spanning rows and columns 354

Setting an anchor point (cell alignment) 354

Using spacers to control layout 355

Controlling the grid spacing 356

Setting container margins 356

Setting sizing policies 356

Setting fill policies 357

Adding borders 357

10.5 Adding functionality to forms 357

Binding forms and their components 358

Creating a constructor 359

Generating getter/setter methods for fields bound to data 361

Invoking your form 361

10.6 Adding functionality to the ACME GUI 362

Binding the ACME GUI to a form class 362

Creating a constructor 363

Implementing the Convert functionality 364

Providing an entry point 365

10.7 Building and running your form 366

Generating the GUI to binary or source 367

Including the forms library 367

Compiling with Ant 368

10.8 Summary 369

11 Developing J2EE applications 370

11.1 Working with web applications 371

Understanding web modules 371

Creating a new web module 372

Configuring a web module 373

Using the J2EE tab of the Project tool window 377

Working with servlets and filters 379

Working with JavaServer Pages 380

Implementing an ACME web application 386

11.2 Working with EJBs 390

Working with EJB modules 391

Working with J2EE application modules 399

11.3 Understanding application server integration 402

Integrating IDEA with Tomcat 403

Integrating IDEA with WebLogic 404

Integrating IDEA with generic application servers 404

Installing Tomcat to support the ACME web application 405

11.4 Running and debugging web applications 406

Running your web application 408

Running the ACME web application on Tomcat 408

Debugging your web application 410

11.5 Working with web content (IDEA 5.0 and higher) 412

Supported file types and content 412

Basic editor features 415

Coding assistance for web content 417

Navigating through web content files 421

Refactoring web content 422

11.6 Summary 423

12 Customizing IDEA 425

12.1 Configuring IDEA’s options and settings 426

Customizing the interface 429

12.2 Customizing your code style 430

How IDEA uses your code style 431

Variable naming and general formatting 432

Controlling indentation and braces 434

Controlling whitespace 436

Customizing import statements 437

Controlling line wraps 439

Adherence to a code standard—made easy 439

12.3 Customizing your color scheme 440

How IDEA uses color schemes 440

Editor properties 440

Changing font settings 445

12.4 Customizing keyboard shortcuts 447

Using keyboard shortcuts 448

Navigating the interface with the keyboard 448

Selecting a keymap 448

Creating a new keymap 450

Defining keyboard shortcuts 450

Defining mouse shortcuts 452

Defining quick lists 452

12.5 Working with non-Java file types 453

Modifying file types settings 453

Registering file extensions 454

Creating a custom file type 454

12.6 Using file templates 455

Creating a new file from a template 456

Working with template includes 459

12.7 Increasing the amount of memory allocated to IDEA 459

12.8 Summary 460

13 Extending IDEA 461

13.1 Working with bookmarks 462

Placing and using numbered bookmarks 463

Placing and using anonymous bookmarks 463

Managing your bookmarks collection 464

13.2 Working with ToDo lists 465

Creating custom ToDo list items 467

Using ToDo filters 468

13.3 The IDEA Commander 468

Working with the IDEA Commander 469

File operations 471

13.4 Integrating external tools with IDEA 472

Managing the tool list 472

Accessing external tools from within IDEA 476

Reacting to the results of external tools 478

13.5 Using IDEA’s open APIs 479

13.6 Summary 480

appendix: Getting help with IDEA 481
index 487

DESCRIPTION

“… an entertaining read with excellent examples. Even a seasoned IDEA user will find it helpful.”
—Sean Garagan, Technical Director, Versata, Inc.

If you work with IntelliJ IDEA™, you know its unique power and have already seen a jump in your productivity. But because IntelliJ IDEA is a rich system you, like many others, are probably using just a small subset of its features. You can overcome this syndrome and see your productivity take another leap forward—all you need is this book.

For new users, this book is a logically organized and clearly expressed introduction to a big subject. For veterans, it is also an invaluable guide to the expert techniques they need to know to draw a lot more power out of this incredible tool. You get a broad overview and deep understanding of the features in IntelliJ IDEA.

The book takes you through a sample project—from using the editor for entering and editing code, to building, running and debugging, and testing your application. The journey then continues into the far corners of the system. Along the way, the authors carefully explain IntelliJ IDEA’s features and show you fun tricks and productivity-enhancing techniques that are the result of their combined years of experience.

What’s Inside

• Intelligent editing of Java • JSP • XML • HTML • custom file types
• How to add plugins • customize and extend IntelliJ IDEA • fine tune your code • inspect and analyze • refactor • develop Swing and J2EE applications

ABOUT THE AUTHORS...

Duane K. Fields is a software developer and manager. He co-authored Manning’s best-selling Web Development with JavaServer Pages. Stephen Saunders is a software engineer with experience in knowledge management, financial services, and data management. Eugene Belyaev is the cofounder, president, and chief technology officer of JetBrains, the company that created IDEA.

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