sebastiandaschner blog

My tips for using IntelliJ IDEA effectively (Video)

#productivity #intellij wednesday, april 07, 2021

I wanted to share my tips and tricks that and especially keyboard shortcuts that make me more productive when using IntelliJ IDEA. IntelliJ is my favorite IDE and a very well thought-out program in general, and despite trying to learn the countless shortcuts available, there are a few that give you the biggest productivity boost already.

 

 

My frequently used features and shortcuts that I showed in the video are:

Coding

  • IdeaVIM

  • Live templates (e.g. main → public static void main( …​)

  • Postfix completion (e.g. "Hello".sout → System.out.println("Hello");)

  • Ctrl+Space:  Basic code completion

  • Ctrl+Shift+Enter:  Complete current statement

  • Alt+Enter:  Show context actions (aka “quick fix”)

  • Ctrl+Alt+L:  Reformat code (and optimize imports when activated)

  • Ctrl+B:  Go to declaration / usage

  • Ctrl+Shift+B:  Go to implementation(s)

  • Ctrl+U:  Go to super method

  • Alt+Insert:  Generate code

  • F2:  Next highlighted error

  • Ctrl+Alt+V/F/C/P:  Extract variable / field / constant / parameter

  • Ctrl+Alt+N:  Inline

  • Ctrl+F12:  File structure (e.g. list of methods)

Navigating

  • Ctrl+N:  Go to class

  • Ctrl+Shift+N:  Go to file

  • Shift+Shift:  Find all

  • Alt+1:  Project view

  • Alt+F1+Enter:  Jump to file in project view

  • Ctrl+Shift+F:  Find in files

  • Alt+Left/Right:  Switch open files

  • NerdTree in IdeaVIM

Running

  • Ctrl+Shift+F10:  Run current context

  • Shift+F10:  Run

  • Shift+F9:  Debug

  • F7/F8/F9:  (debug mode) Step into / Step over / Resume program

 

You’re interested in more productivity and command line tips? Then you might enjoy my Developer Productivity Masterclass.