IntelliJ IDEA by JetBrains is the gold standard for Java, Kotlin, and Scala development. Its deep code analysis and refactoring tools are unmatched.
IntelliJ IDEA is the IDE of choice for serious JVM development. Its code analysis goes far beyond syntax highlighting — it understands your entire project's structure, detects potential bugs before you run the code, and offers automated refactoring that actually works. The Ultimate edition adds support for web frameworks, databases, and enterprise tools. While VS Code has eaten into its market share for lighter tasks, IntelliJ remains dominant in enterprise Java and Kotlin development where its deep understanding of frameworks like Spring Boot and its database tooling provide genuine productivity advantages.