@Obreh Winfrey, What ide do you use for Java? Do you use IntelliJ? If so, do you have any simple shortcuts
as this breh has
me with tips that make it quicker to code?
I jump in and out of editors because I'm in and out of languages frequently. If I'm sitting down to do some for real for real Java then I use IntelliJ, if I'm messing around or making quick edits I use Visual Studio Code, if I'm fixing some Git related issues, I just do it in Vim. I don't have any shortcuts, but I do have some things that generally make my life easier.
The first thing, along the lines of what dude showed, was setting up the code formatting rules from the jump. The defaults (and Google) have some stuff that I just don't like, stylistically, so I meticulously went through and set up the format to what I like. It took about 15-20 minutes, but it's worth it. Really, you should just go through all of the preferences and set them up how you like. Then you can export the settings and use them across all of the machines you use.
The next thing was setting up some of the syntax coloring. I made changes to the unit test coverage so that the background of the lines are colored red/blue/white based on no/full/partial coverage by the test. I believe the default is a pale red/green on the gutter to the left. I also set up some gutter coloring based off of Git changes so I can identify what lines I changed, what changes were to code or just white space, things like that.
A big one is multi cursor usage. I think it's Shift+Alt+Click and you can put cursors anywhere. It's a godsend for copy/paste on multiple items. You can highlight like 10 different items (I bet you could do more if you wanted), copy, then highlight 10 places and it'll paste in the order you went in.
The refactoring tools are second to none. I've refactored packages that have a lot of code in them and had no unknown symbol errors or anything like that when I followed it with a build. I've done some hardcore method extraction and it made good suggestions on parameters and return times the method would have. It'll also go replace duplicate code with that method call. On the subject of methods, I think if you Ctrl+Click on a method or variable it'll take you to its definition.
The debugger is pretty legit. As you're stepping through your code it will show you the current value of variables used on that line, inline. So you don't have to go to the watch list to make sure. As long as the type has a proper toString() method, you'll get that representation right then and there.
If you work with Maven projects a lot then you can import them and it'll understand their structure. When you open the POM it'll prompt you to auto import dependencies - basically go download them from Maven without you having to run an install. It's useful when troubleshooting screwed up dependencies. It also does a good job of formatting your POMs as you paste stuff in.
I need to get my vim skills up to par. I keep forgetting the shortcuts and end up closing the file and starting over because I messed something up.
They defiinitely wouldn't do that to anyone else.