IntelliJ IDEA 10.0 is here people!

In a fit of exuberance I wrote up a mail addressed to my team at SocialTwist informing them about the latest installment to further the awesomeness of an already great IDE - IntelliJ IDEA 10.0. Re-posting it here ...

So sit back, relax and revel in the glory of the greatness of IntelliJ IDEA. Here goes ...


IntelliJ IDEA 10.0 is here!

Bad News: Our existing licenses don't work with it. So the max one could do with the existing licenses is upgrade to version 9.x

Good News: It's available in a Community Edition version which comes for free (http://download.jetbrains.com/idea/ideaIC-10.exe). Yup, free as in speech and free as in soft drink.

So what's new in IntelliJ IDEA 10.0¹ -

• Super quick startup. I haven't been able to see the splash screen yet! (And yup, it's enabled).
   
• Memory usage is tighter and we are nearing IntelliJ IDEA 5.0 memory usage levels. (And this, gentlemen is in stark contrast to IDEA 9.0's mammoth requirements)
   
• You get a suggest-as-you-type interface. No need to type Ctrl+Space, Ctrl+Shift+Space or Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Space (These are the various code completion shortcuts in IDEA.). I guess IDEA went the Instant way.
   
• It claims to compile the file in background - while I don't know how does that work or whether it really does, I did notice a slight performance improvement (over and above the usual snappy performance for which IDEA is already well-known).
   
• The indexing takes less time, can be configured with a higher level of granularity and is less irritating and let's you develop with pleasure indeed.
  
  
• And another thing, the two versions 10.0 and <= 9.x can co-exist meaning you may install 10.0 and try it out without affecting your current set up!

So far, so good. I am still exploring. Just installed it yesterday. So what are you waiting for? Try it out. It's fast. It's free.

If you need any more convincing about it's awesomeness -

1. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/239732/things-possible-in-intellij-that-arent-possible-in-eclipse
2. http://blogs.jetbrains.com/idea/2010/12/intellij-idea-10-rc-3-indexing-speed-improvements/
3. http://www.aldana-online.de/2010/12/12/intellij-idea-rocks-revisted-for-10/
4. http://www.infoworld.com/d/developer-world/infoworld-review-top-java-programming-tools-191?page=0,4

Also, If you have already tried it, I would love to hear what you have got to say about IntelliJ IDEA 10.0!



1 - The most intelligent Java IDE out there!

I survived MySQL (re-)installation!

Ever got the opportunity to experience the installation of MySQL Server 5.1 on your own system? Well yours truly recently went through the ordeal.

The thing is it's not an ordeal if it is a clean first time install but consider the case when you or someone else installed it on your machine a few weeks/months ago and now you don't have access to the root password. What would you do then? MySQL server installer is programmed in a way (apparently to preserve the security of the database) that it doesn't let you proceed unless you know that goddamn old root password (which many a times turns out to be the sys-admin's girlfriend's name). Even an uninstallation followed by attempted clean installation doesn't help. So now one is stuck! What do we do?


Problem Statement:  To hell with the old DB and perform a clean installation of MySQL Server 5.1, bypassing the root password requirement.

Hack:

Step 1: Run the installation. Hit the last page. Encounter the error. Close.

Step 2: Go to the 'Application Data' folder on your Windows installation drive (usually C:) and Shift+Delete the MySQl folder there.

Step 3:  Go to the 'Program Files' folder on your Windows installation drive (usually C:) and Shift+Delete the MySQl folder there.

Step 4: Go to HKLM/Software/MySql registry key: and reset all of them to '0'.

Step 5: Restart your system.

Step 6: Re-install. Now it goes through smoothly!

Result: You are able to reinstall a fresh copy without formatting your system :D!

Sit back. Relax. Glory to MySQL! World's most popular open source DB.