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What is the best IDE with support for Node.js?

Most IDEs support JavaScript, but that is not all that a node developer expects. Support for Debugging and Refactoring are important.

Requirements:

  • Debugging Support.
  • Intelligent Code Completion.

Optional but Good to Have Features:

  • Free / Open Source

Cool Features that I wish to have in my Node IDE:
Advanced Refactoring - Inserting a require("./anotherfile") and moving the code to the another file.

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  • Have a look at stackoverflow.com/questions/3919977/ide-for-node-js-javascript
    – Skwal
    Commented Feb 19, 2014 at 13:37
  • You ask "what is the best IDE" but you list only two requirements which are like the bread and butter of any IDE, so that really doesn't narrow the field. How would anybody make an informed recommendation an this other that just the basic popularity/personal preference metrics? Can you give us something more about your workflow and preferences to make this a meaningfully specific question?
    – Caleb
    Commented Feb 20, 2014 at 9:58
  • 1
    node.js specific support is lacking on most common IDEs. That's the reason why there is only one answer even after software recommendations opened it doors for public beta. Commented Feb 20, 2014 at 12:14
  • @Joraid Just a gentle reminder: Please do not use comments to offer recommendations. While your comment is well meaning (and got the author to improve their question) we have to be a bit careful about using comments to as a means of making recommendations without sufficient detail. If you decide to flesh out your suggestion further so it can be vetted by the community, please feel free to post it as a proper 'answer'. Thanks.
    – user46
    Commented Mar 7, 2014 at 14:12
  • @Undo it seems I cannot find my comment to this question anymore, was it removed? I can't remember what I wrote. Commented Mar 7, 2014 at 14:50

3 Answers 3

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I was looking for something like this for a quite long time, because Netbeans I was using with Ruby didn't do the job well enough with Node.js.

So, my first stop was Eclipse, though it didn't last long: there was something about Eclipse and JavaScript together that just didn't feel right.

The next one I tried was IntellijIDEA, Community Edition (which is free). It was a rather good experience, though there were some small things I found pretty annoying, like, for example, the fact that you can't have multiple projects open in the same window, etc.

Now I use Brackets and I think I'll stick to it for a while. Free, open source and community-driven, but backed by Adobe, which is a good thing. The concept is a little bit different then with the big IDEs, but it's simpler and quite logical. And there's a lot of extensions, including Node.js, Git and Github support, debugging, folding, linting, etc.

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Use Webstorm.

It's a fantastic IDE for Web Development with great support for Node.js. It's based on IntelliJ IDEA, so if you liked that IDE you'll love Webstorm, which is tailored for a web developer working in Node.

The only problem is that you have to pay for it, but you can try it free for thirty days. Most people who use it will tell you that the price is well worth it.

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    Welcome to Software Recommendations! This post does not contain enough information to be considered a high quality answer. Please read our discussion on what makes an answer high quality to see if you can incorporate some of these improvements into your answer - specifically state whether it goes over supports each requirement or not (bonus: list work arounds for those it may not meet/tell how to use any hard to use features to meet those requirements). Commented Mar 25, 2014 at 16:49
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Recently I am using Visual Studio code. It is at basic level. But supports debugging, Code Completion and Code formatting. Thats the basic requirements. I like it. Main thing it is available on all platforms including Windows, Linux and Mac

Update: Now the Visual Studio Code is more powerful than previous, lots of plugins, customisation. I really like it.

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