What’s New in IntelliJ IDEA 2020.2? A Deep Dive into Java 15 Support and Enhanced GitHub PR Workflow

Java

The new version adds full support for Java 15, including Records, sealed classes, and Text Blocks. It also enhances the handling of runtime exceptions with data‑flow analysis that pinpoints the exact code location of a crash.

Editor Improvements

Problems tool window : Shows warnings and errors for the current file and allows navigation to the problematic code with Alt+Enter.

Inspections widget : Simplifies searching for issues and lets you toggle highlighting of errors only or all problems.

Intentions preview : Lets you preview the result of an intention action before applying it.

Improved spellchecker : Faster, context‑aware suggestions with better ranking.

Stream API autocomplete : Automatically inserts stream() when you type a Stream method name.

Version Control

Full GitHub PR support : Browse, assign, manage, merge, comment, and review pull requests directly inside the IDE.

Improved Git dialogs : Updated Merge, Pull, and Rebase dialogs with clearer command indications and added options such as --rebase and --no-verify.

Enhanced compare‑branches view : Shows commits and affected files in a single editor view.

Profiler

The HPROF memory viewer now displays retained object sizes, shortest paths to GC roots, dominator trees, and incoming references, helping you locate memory‑intensive code and detect leaks.

Terminal

You can run IDE actions directly from the terminal using Ctrl+Enter / Cmd+Enter, and execute highlighted commands in debug mode with Ctrl+Shift+Enter / Cmd+Shift+Enter.

Database

Separate editor for long cell values.

Improved UI for boolean values.

DML preview in the data editor.

Docker

Secure TLS connections to Docker on Windows are now supported.

For a complete list of new features, see the official release notes at JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 2020.2 .