In my case it is simple: I think IntelliJ is great but I much prefer VSCode and NetBeans.

Why? Two main reasons:

- On the projects I tend to work on, IntelliJ has a habit of breaking its internal configuration a few times a year—not just for me, but for my colleagues as well. When it does, it can take the better part of a day to sort out. Often I end up getting frustrated, deleting anything not under version control, reimporting the project, and end up having to reconfigure all the database connections and other bits manually.

- I also just prefer the more straightforward feel of NetBeans and VSCode. It’s a bit like my old car: less automation, fewer clever electronics. Sure, the new one is objectively better in many ways—but the old one was easier to get out of the snow, and it rarely surprised me.

> IntelliJ has a habit of breaking its internal configuration a few times a year

Same.

My impression is the project settings (all those XML configuration files under /.idea) are a gravity well that eventually implodes.

All project artifacts should be less Windows Registry and more like source code.

Which reminds me: I should be taking snapshots of known clean good settings. (Diffing those files, to cull unused stuff, is challenging.)

I have been trying to get NetBeans simply to work and not crash immediately for past 2 years