Software Update: IntelliJ Idea 2018.2

JetBrains releases several development environments such as CLion targeting C and C++, DataGrip targeting SQL, PhpStorm targeting PHP and IntelliJ Idea targeting Java. IntelliJ Idea offers smart code completion, deep static analysis, intelligent refactorings, debugger and a test runner, and can also handle Kotlin, Groovy, Coffee and Actionscript. For an overview of the possibilities, we refer to this page† IntelliJ Idea is available in two flavors, a licensed Ultimate flavor with more functionality and a free open source Community flavor. The Ultimate flavor will require payment for business and home use, but if the software is used for education or non-commercial open source projects, the license is free. JetBrains has released IntelliJ Idea 2018.2, with the following announcement:

IntelliJ IDEA 2018.2: MacBook Touch Bar, Java 11, Breakpoint Intentions, Spring Boot, Version Control, and More

Today’s the day! Please welcome a new major update – IntelliJ IDEA 2018.2! It’s packed full with exciting new features and ready for you to Download† Read this post for a brief summary of the main highlights, don’t forget to check out the What’s New page for more details and screenshots.

Java

• Support for the upcoming Java 11.
• Data flow information can be viewed in the editor.
• The IDE displays type hints for long method chains.
• It’s now possible to configure Quick Documentation to pop-up together with autocompletion.
• A new preview panel for Extract Method lets you check the results of your refactoring before you make any actual changes.
• The @Contract annotation adds new return values: new, this, and paramX.
• New and updated inspections and intention actions include smarter Join Line action and improved Stream API support, among many others.

Editor

• You can now jump outside the closing bracket or quote with Tab.
• Reassigned local variables and reassigned parameters are now underlined by default.
• For or while keywords are highlighted when you place the caret on the corresponding breakorcontinue keyword.

User interface

• MacBook Touch Bar is supported.
• Dark window headers are available.
• An updated IntelliJ theme on Linux.
• We’ve changed to new UI icons.

VCS

• The updated Files Merged with Conflicts dialog displays Git branch names and adds a new Group files by directory option.
• You can open several Log tabs in the Version Control toolwindow.
• The IDE now displays the Favorites branches in the Branch filter on the Log tab.
• You can preview the diff in the VCS Log.
• Tags can be deleted from Git commits via the context menu of the Log tab.
• Explore the repository state based on a given revision by using the new Browse Repository at Revision action.
• Skip the Push dialog completely when usingCommit and Push, or display it only when committing to protected branches.
• Configure as many GitHub accounts as needed in Preferences | Version Control | GitHub.
• Autocompletion for Git tags is available in the Checkoutdialog.

JVM debugger

• Brand new breakpoint intentions.
• Ability to filter a breakpoint hit by the caller method.

Gradle

• Included buildSrc Gradle projects are discovered automatically.
• Debug Gradle DSL blocks.

maven

• The IDE now supports the “release” option of the maven-compiler-plugin.
• There’s a quick-fix to suppress a warning for dynamically created properties.

Configuration

• Exclude only some of the transitive dependencies when adding a new repository library.
• Assign shortcuts to actions right from the Find Action pop-up.

Differences Viewer

• A new Open Blank Diff Viewer action opens an emptyDifferences Viewerto compare any text sources you want.

Jump Boat

• A new Spring Runtime Beans diagram helps you visualize the dependencies between beans in the runtime.
• Manage HTTP requests mappings from the Run Dashboard.

Spring Integration

• Spring Integration 5.0 is supported.

Kotlin

• The Kotlin plugin bundled with the IDE has been updated to v1.2.51.
• Runnable Kotlin scratch files.
• An intention to convert end-of-line comments into the block comments and vice versa.
• New Coroutine Inspections and Intentions.

Groovy

• Groovy 2.5 annotations: @NamedDelegate @NamedParam @NamedVariant.
• Groovy 3.0 default methods in interfaces.
• Support for the do…while loop, try with resources, and method references ‘::’ .

Scale plugin

• The Scala plugin can show implicits right in the editor. Even better, it shows you places where implicits are not found.
• A new Move Refactoring to move members between objects.
• The Scalafmt formatter has been integrated. Enable it in Preferences / Settings | Editor | Code Style | range.
• Semantic highlighting.
• Improved auto-completion for pattern matching.

android

• Merge with Android Studio 3.1.2.

JavaScript & TypeScript

• Use the newExtract React component refactoring to break a component into two.
• New intention to Convert React class components into functional components.
• Add new features to your Angular app using the integration with ng add.
• New JavaScript and TypeScript intentions: Implement interface, Create derived class, Implement members of an interface or abstract class, Generate cases for ‘switch’, and Iterate with ‘for..of’.
• A new Code Coverage feature helps you find unused code in your client-side apps.

Improvements in YAML support

• YAML code formatter.
• Smarter YAML with JSON Schemas.

Database Tools

• SQL log.
• NewSQL formatter.
• Running stored procedure.
• Source code migrations.

Docker integration plugin

• A new Context folder field in the Docker run configuration.
• A new Use Soft Wraps action wraps words in docker logs.
• Navigate from compose nodes and containers to the corresponding compose and dockerfile files.

File Watchers plugin

• Ability to set a global file watcher.

A complete list of all the changes can be found in the really long release notes†

That’s it! We really appreciate all the thoughts, suggestions, and of course, the bug-fixes that you are sharing with us! Please keep them coming as always in the discussion forum† issue tracker† Twitter, and the comments. Thank you!