5 helpful plugins for IntelliJ IDEA: Enhance your Spring Boot and Java development experience

For any Spring Boot developer, two primary goals are maximum productivity and high-quality code. One of the most widely applied Integrated Development Environments today is IntelliJ IDEA. More than that, it provides a huge set of plugins that facilitate development processes. In this article, we shall discover 5 IntelliJ plugins every Spring Boot developer should consider in his toolbox.

1. SonarLint

SonarLint is a static code analysis tool for real-time feedback within the IDE on the quality of the code. This ensures high quality and best practices of code.

Key Features:

• Instant Feedback: Highlights code issues as you type, providing instant feedback on potential bugs, vulnerabilities, and code smells.

• Rule Customization: Allows customization of rules to fit your project's coding standards.

• Integration with SonarQube: Offers seamless integration with SonarQube for comprehensive code analysis.

Link - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/7973-sonarlint

2. JRebel for IntelliJ

JRebel is a productivity tool that enables developers to instantly see the impact of code changes without restarting the application. The JRebel plugin for IntelliJ integrates this powerful feature into the IDE.

Key Features:

• Hot Reloading: Reloads code changes on-the-fly, eliminating the need for application restarts.

• Time-Saving: Significantly reduces development time by speeding up the feedback loop.

• Support for Various Frameworks: Works seamlessly with Spring Boot and other Java frameworks.

Link - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/4441-jrebel-and-xrebel

3. SwaggerHub Plugin

The SwaggerHub plugin allows you to view and edit your OpenAPI definitions stored in SwaggerHub directly from within IntelliJ. You will be able to access the APIs and domains of your organization and sync the changes back into SwaggerHub.

Both SwaggerHub SaaS and On-Premise are supported.

Key Features:

• API Documentation: Provides tools for generating and editing Swagger/OpenAPI documentation.

• Code Generation: Generates client code for various programming languages from API definitions.

• Visualization: Allows for the visualization of API endpoints and their details within the IDE.

Link - https://support.smartbear.com/swaggerhub/docs/en/integrations/swaggerhub-plugin-for-intellij-idea.html

4. Lombok Plugin

Lombok is a Java library that reduces boilerplate code. The plugin to IntelliJ IDEA, Lombok Plugin, integrates perfectly, and all the features of Lombok are at your disposal.

Key Features:

• Annotations Support: Enables the use of Lombok annotations like @Getter, @setter, @builder, and more.

• Code Generation: Automatically generates boilerplate code, such as getters, setters, constructors, and builders.

Link - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/6317-lombok

5. RestfulTool plugin

The RestfulTool plugin provides tools for developing and testing RESTful services, making it easier to work with APIs within IntelliJ IDEA.

Key Features:

• Request Generation: Allows you to generate and test HTTP requests directly from the IDE.

• cURL Command Generation: Generates cURL commands from HTTP requests, simplifying API testing.

• Endpoint Management: Helps manage and organize RESTful endpoints.

Link - https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/14280-restful-tool

Bonus Plugin

6. Json2Pojo Plugin

Allows the creation of easily Java POJOs from JSON with GSON annotations and accessors. Once installed, right-click the destination package and choose "New -> Generate POJOs from JSON", then fill in your root class name and source JSON text as appropriate.

The JSON to POJO plugin is one very useful tool in the estimation of JSON data to Java POJO classes.

Key Features:

• Code Generation: Automatically generates Java classes from JSON, saving time and effort.

• Customizable Output: Allows customization of the generated code to match your coding standards.

Conclusion

These plugins will smooth and increase the workflow, thus enabling the delivery of quality applications within a quicker time frame. Besides helping one save time, such tools are important in the maintenance of best practices and coding standards, thus making the overall development experience more pleasurable and productive.