# JetBrains Intellij Idea a viable IDE for DAML?

**URL:** <https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364>\
**Category:** App Development\
**Tags:** ide\
**Created:** [March 31, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364 "2021-03-31T14:07:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![amiracam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@amiracam](https://forum.canton.network/u/amiracam)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364/1 "2021-03-31T14:07:15Z")

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So I understand that VSCode is very popular however our shop used Intellij IDEA, I just want to understand why I would not be able to use IDEA , if I can , what would be the advantages to using VS Code ?

thanks

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**Author:** ![cocreature](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.canton.network/cocreature/32/36_2.png) [@cocreature](https://forum.canton.network/u/cocreature)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364/2 "2021-03-31T14:14:45Z")

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Our VSCode integration provides generic things you’re used to from most IDEs like syntax highlighting, on the fly error highlighting, go to definition and more as well as a [liveview of the ledger produced by your Daml Scripts](https://docs.daml.com/daml/daml-studio.html#scenario-and-daml-script-results).

The generic part builds on top of the [language server protocol](https://microsoft.github.io/language-server-protocol/) which afaik can also be used in Intellij. However, you are on your own for this. There is no support for this and no documentation. The community-supported instructions for using [Daml in Vim](https://discuss.daml.com/t/daml-on-vim/465) might be a good starting point. You also won’t get the live-view of the ledger. You could in theory replicate that functionality in Intellij but it’s a significant chunk of work and again this is not supported.

Overall, I would highly recommend using VSCode. The experience you get in Intellij will be strictly worse than what you get there.

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**Author:** ![amiracam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@amiracam](https://forum.canton.network/u/amiracam)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2021, 2:19pm UTC](https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364/3 "2021-03-31T14:19:07Z")

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understood, we don’t use VSCode for anything else so there’s that initial inertia,  
There’s also the issue that the UI won’t be built in VSCode but I guess that’s overall irrelevant

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**Author:** ![Chris\_Rivers](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forum.canton.network/chris_rivers/32/420_2.png) [@Chris\_Rivers](https://forum.canton.network/u/Chris_Rivers)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2022, 1:39am UTC](https://forum.canton.network/t/jetbrains-intellij-idea-a-viable-ide-for-daml/2364/4 "2022-05-18T01:39:02Z")

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Thanks for your perspective, @cocreature. I’ve made a note on this as a VSCode integration with Intellij IDEA may be a project worth pursuing.

As the de-facto framework for developing Java applications, Spring helps us scale, secure and configure applications more efficiently. And because of its first-class support and developer tools, I use Intellij IDEA Ultimate.

But for those preferring Intellij when also developing in DAML, one chooses either to?: (i) Develop DAML and Java Spring into separate IDEs (which seems problematic) or (ii) Opt for VSCode for DAML and Java development, using [Spring Tools](https://spring.io/tools) 4, although the overall support isn’t quite mature as Intellij.