Which Java IDEs allow project sharing across computers (via dropbox or a flash drive)? [closed]

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I am new to Java with only a few months experience, and I am looking for a good Java IDE which allows for easy project sharing across multiple computers. I am currently using Eclipse Kepler on both Ubuntu 12.04 and Windows 7, and the projects are located in my Dropbox.

I find the way Eclipse manages the 'workspace' rather annoying and cumbersome in that I must delete and re-import the project every time I want to load it on the other computer, and in addition this has caused problems in the past.

I was wondering if there is another Java IDE which maintains the projects on the disk in a much more simple and portable way. Something that manages projects similar to how Code::Blocks does would be great, as there is no computer specific data included in the project file, and thus it can very easily be shared across multiple computers.

Thank you very much for your time, Ryan Shanks

Answer 1

You could have a directory inside your main project folder that contains all the source code while the IDE 'project' files lie in the root folder. Just share the sub-folder via Dropbox, not the root one. This way each computer has its own instance of the project files.

Of course, as others have suggested, a real source code control system (repo) will make your life far better. The above scenario is accomplished by having the source code control 'ignore' the IDE project files (and any other junk files you don't want to share).

Most IDE's are aware of and designed to use a repo, so its pretty seamless.

Answer 2

To share your projects do not use Dropbox. You need a Control Version System. Try git:

http://git-scm.com/

Take some hours to learn how it works. It's worth trying.

Another thing is that you can try to use NetBeans. It supports git. You do not need to use command line.