IntelliJ IDEA Optimization Settings and Recommended Plugins for Java Development

IntelliJ IDEA (Integrated Development Environment for Java) is widely regarded as the best Java development tool, offering intelligent code assistance, refactoring, JEE support, version control integration, testing, and GUI design.

Optimizing IDEA settings can greatly improve development efficiency. The article covers several configuration tweaks:

Method separators: File → Settings → Editor → General → Appearance → check “Show method separators”.

Comment color: File → Settings → Editor → Color Scheme → Language Defaults → Comments.

Auto‑import and remove unused imports: File → Settings → Editor → General → Auto Import.

Case‑insensitive code completion: File → Settings → Editor → General → Code Completion.

Disable reopening the last project on startup: Settings → Appearance & Behavior → System Settings; uncheck “Reopen last project on startup”.

Additionally, the article recommends several plugins to further enhance productivity:

TranslationPlugin – in‑IDE translation of selected text.

Rainbow Brackets – colorful bracket matching.

CodeGlance – code minimap for quick navigation.

BackgroundImagePlus – custom IDE background images.

Activate‑power‑mode / IntelliJ_power_mode_II – dynamic visual effects while coding.

Alibaba Java Coding Guidelines – enforce Alibaba’s Java coding standards.

Installation of plugins can be done via Settings → Plugins. The article also includes screenshots illustrating each setting and plugin.

Reopen llast project on startup