Thread

Before I start, let me just state I do not develop or sell, nor am I affiliated with any company that develops or sells, Integrated Development Environments.

I just have to ask this question.

I have seen (and just browsed through) so many topics on “What’s the best IDE.  I need it to do X, Y, Z, and even Q, but it has to be free!”

Seems like everyone and their grandmother want an IDE that can do everything for them, but they don’t want to pay for it.

I’ve tried pretty much every free IDE out there.  Some of them are quite impressive on their feature list, but can be slow and inconsistent.  Some of them make themselves useful by the large number of “user plug-ins” available that have been written by users, some of which are very buggy from some of those users.  Then, there are others that offer the free IDE, only to pull the bait-and-switch to get you to purchase plug-ins to get it to do everything you need.  (That type of tactic in a company sickens me, and I won’t support it.  If you’re going to charge, charge up front, and provide a complete product.)

So I’d like some of you to tell me exactly why you need it to be free.

I’d like an IDE that is free (well, open source anyway), because when the original developer is no longer interested, I know it can be continued by someone else.  I’ve used several editors in the past that are commercial and then abandoned or a seriously long time between updates.  For a long time I avoided anything built with java because it tended to be bloated or slow.  Today, I like phpStorm but usually end up using Sublime Text 2 for most things so I suppose even though I usually look for something free or open source, I end up using commercial products anyway.

I’d like an IDE that is free (well, open source anyway), because when the original developer is no longer interested, I know it can be continued by someone else.  I’ve used several editors in the past that are commercial and then abandoned or a seriously long time between updates.

Yes, it is best to research the company, and go with one you can trust to be around for a while.  The developer of the IDE that I use has been putting out regular updates and improvements several times per year for a long time.  I bought version 5 in 1995, and version 18 of the editor just came out.  Of course, in 1995 it was only an editor, now they still have the editor, but also a full blown IDE that uses the editor at the core. 

The very reason you mention open source is one of the reasons I stick with my commercial product.  I have used several open source software solutions in the past that were abandoned, and after years of neglect, the people who finally took over to pick up the slack ruined the product.  That, unfortunately, is the case more often than not.  Of course, programs like GIMP (a must have) and XAMPP are examples of software that is of high quality, well supported and developed, and free.  So there are good options out there.  But I wouldn’t rely on XAMPP for a production server.  Just for local testing.  GIMP, as fantastic as it is, is a great tool for a PHP Programmer to do a few graphics on his own, but for professional graphics editing, GIMP still doesn’t beat Photoshop (but it is getting closer.)  The only problem is that when GIMP gets closer, Photoshop keeps improving and keeping distance as well.  Part time volunteer programmers cannot hope to keep up with a team of “dedicated to a singular task” programmers being paid to be productive. After all, those part time programmers have to make a living doing something, so they can’t devote their whole life to the free projects, realistically.