Essential IntelliJ IDEA Plugins for Java and Kotlin Developers

As a Java and Kotlin developer, JetBrains IDEA is my go-to IDE. It comes with a wide range of essential features, even in the Community Edition. The main difference between the Community and Ultimate editions lies in the set of bundled plugins available. These native plugins are well-tested and work seamlessly. For commercial plugins, you can often find free alternatives. For example, Database Navigator is a great option for database support. There are also several other free plugins that enhance the functionality of both Community and Ultimate editions.

In my experience, here are the must-have plugins for Kotlin and Java developers::

• Docker Integration
• BashSupport if you need to write Bash scripts.
• Line Sorter - for sorting file contents.
• Markdown – the Markdown language support.
• Regex Tester – RegExp editor/tester.
• SonarLint helps you detect and fix quality issues as you write code.
• Detekt Detekt is a static code analyzer for Kotlin.
• Ktlint Formats code with KtLint after IntelliJ IDEA formatting or on save of file.
• Visual VM Launcher to start your application from Idea with JVisualVM attached.
• PlantUML Integration – Draw and preview PlantUML diagrams in IDEA
• Database Navigator Database management (useful IDEA for Community edition)

There are hundreds of plugin for IDEA_Community Edition and IDEA Ultimate available in the plugin repository. I am sure you can add some plugins you love to this list.