JetBrains Fleet is the talk of the town for software developers, programmers, hobbyists, managers, and team leads. It’s everywhere; in the news, forums, blogs, and team conversations. Touted as the “Next-generation IDE by JetBrains,” Fleet is the recent addition to the JetBrains family of production-grade integrated development environments.
This time, however, rather than developing a dedicated IDE for a particular programming language, the Czech-based firm decided to put together their decades of experience in developing state-of-the-art IDEs for formulating a ubermodern code editor – which can transform into a full-fledged IDE – that facilitates remote collaboration and rapid development.
Although Fleet is yet to be released, the hype around it is already getting developers and programmers excited. So, let’s take a look at the features that Fleet brings to the table. But before that, since, JetBrains Fleet hangs between the realms of text editors and IDEs, it’s important to know the difference between a text editor and an IDE, and then know what is Fleet.
What is an IDE?
An IDE or integrated development environment is a programming tool that offers most of the features that a software developer needs. In actuality, it is a suite of development tools and comes with many features. This includes code editor, debugger, code refactoring, syntax highlighting, code completion, and so on.
Usually, IDEs are bulky software and thus, are resource-intensive. They are ideal for working on big projects. Hence, it is usually not preferred to use an IDE for smaller projects. Atom IDE, BlueJ, Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, Komodo IDE, PhpStorm, and PyCharm are some of the most popular IDEs.
IDEs come in two types, dedicated and general. Dedicated IDEs provide support for a particular programming language only. General IDEs provide support for a wide-range of programming languages. However, some dedicated IDEs feature a plugin system that allows them to be used for developing code in other programming languages.
What is a Code Editor?
A code editor is a programming tool that allows faster development. It lets you quickly edit and/or review code. Unlike an IDE, a code editor usually doesn’t come with a debugger. It is small in size, and therefore, requires less CPU resources. Atom, Emacs, Komodo Edit, Sublime Text, and Vim are some of the most popular code editors. Like IDEs, code editors can be dedicated or general.
What is JetBrains Fleet? A Code Editor or IDE?
JetBrains Fleet is a code-editor-cum-IDE. As a code editor, it is fast and flexible, but when push comes to shove, it can become a full-fledged IDE by plugging into IntelliJ’s Smart Code-processing Engine. This is one of the major highlights of JetBrains Fleet that sets it apart from the competition, i.e., the brethren of code editors and IDEs.
Features of JetBrains Fleet
1.) All the Best Features of Popular JetBrains IDEs
JetBrains Fleet comes equipped with all the features that you can expect from a code editor from the renowned Czech IDE maker. It has:
- Build-in integration with Git
- Context-aware code compilation
- Multi-platform support
- On-the-fly code quality checks
- Port forwarding
- Quick code navigation
- Quick fixes
- Syntax highlighting
- Themes (Standard light and dark themes with third-party customization options)
Fleet also flaunts a plugin system that allows developers to extend the capabilities of the code editor as they find fit for their requirements.
2.) Distributed Architecture
Perhaps the most lucrative feature of Fleet is its distributed architecture. It makes the code editor compatible with a plethora of configurations and workflows. Other than running Fleet on your system, you can use it via:
- A remote machine
- Space
- Docker
- Cloud
Distributed architecture presents the flexibility to run Fleet on your machine while moving some of the processes elsewhere, like, in the cloud.
3.) Fast and Lightweight
Fleet is developed with the intent of offering users a lightweight and blazing fast code editor (and integrated development environment) to quickly edit and review code.
4.) IntelliJ (Smart) Code-processing Engine
Fleet is basically a code editor that can instantly transform into a full-fledged IDE using the IntelliJ code-processing engine. The smart code-processing engine runs in isolation with the editor.
5.) Maximum Collaboration
Although code editors these days allow sharing the process with others, JetBrains Fleet takes it one step further. The code editor from JetBrains allows users to:
- Share debugging and terminal sessions.
- Carry out co-op code reviews.
- Explore the code.
To make things even better, all of these features come ready to use. Whether different users want to connect to a remote shared development environment or others want to collaborate with an instance running on your system, JetBrains Fleet supports all.
6.) Polyglot
Fleet offers out-of-the-box support for a range of programming languages and technologies. It automatically detects the project configuration from the source code to optimize the IntelliJ code-processing engine and reduce the need to configure the project in the IDE.
In addition to providing support for the leading programming languages, Fleet can work with other, lesser-known programming languages via dedicated plugins. It aims to deliver a consistent, single IDE user experience irrespective of the technologies you use or the nature of the projects.
JetBrains Fleet Pricing
For now, it is still a project that is under active development but rest assured, it will be soon available to try. The pricing will be available once it hits the shelves, which is most likely to be in 2022.
JetBrains Timeline
The Fleet Early Preview launched in October 2022.
Release date – Sometime in 2022 (Tentative)
How to Install JetBrains Fleet?
Coming soon!
Conclusion
JetBrains Fleet is a powerful code-editor-cum-IDE that is here to revolutionize the way software development happens. It packs all the usual features while throwing new capabilities into the mix to redefine what code editors can do.
What do you think about JetBrains Fleet? What’s your experience? Let others know via the comments window below.
Hi! I am Pankaj, a full-time content specialist and a part-time programmer and marketer. I love to explore new places and also new ideas. I am an inquisitive person with a passion to learn new skills through every possible opportunity that comes in the way.