dbForge Studio (Edge) vs. IntelliJ IDEA vs. Oracle SQL Developer

This tool is useful for small and large IT departments and associated data analysts that perform direct database functions such as DBA tasks or extracting/importing data. Non-technical staff members would not benefit from this tool as much as the functions are detailed and technical. However, automation engineers will find this tool very open for automation, and can generate the scripting code for any of its functions.

Incentivized

This is a superb tool if your project involves a lot of backend development, especially in Java/Spring Boot and Kotlin. The support for the front end is great as well, but some developers may prefer to use the GitHub copilot add-on. I especially love using the GitHub copilot add-on. It may be less appropriate if your project requires heavy use of HotSwaps for backend debugging, as sometimes the support for that can be limited.

Incentivized

Almost all development activities (the tool is called "SQL Developer", not "DBA Toolset") can be done easily and quick with [Oracle] SQL Developer. From data model creation (tables, views) to development (creation of procedures, functions, packages) and then testing (SQL Developer includes an easy to use debugger), all tasks can be performed in a single tool.

It may not be as complete as other solutions for DBA tasks like instance monitoring, but it is usually OK for development and testing environments if you want to do some basic troubleshooting.

Incentivized

• Connection manager (we use it through ssh tunnels) works effortlessly.
• Great sync tools for both database schemas and data.
• Storing code snippets to be used when needed.
• Nice code suggestions while typing queries.
• Usually does very well with storing your session and opening all of your sql tabs when opening the apps next time.
• Does very well when executing large sql files (without opening the files into the application that is).
• Pretty good debugging help when a problem occurs in executing a query or a files with multiple queries.

Incentivized

• Unit testing: Fully integrated into IntelliJ IDEA. Your unit tests will run smoothly and efficiently, with excellent debugging tools for when things get tricky.
• Spring integration: Our Spring project using Maven works flawlessly in IntelliJ IDEA. I know firsthand that Apache is also easily and readily supported too. The integration is seamless and very easy to set up using IntelliJ IDEA's set up wizard when importing new projects.
• Customization: IntelliJ IDEA comes out of the box with a bunch of handy shortcuts, as well as text prediction, syntax error detection, and other tools to help keep your code clean. But even better is that it allows for total customization of shortcuts you can easily create to suit your needs.

Incentivized

• Object Browser in SQL Developer allows you to explore the contents of your database using the connection tree.
• The SQL Worksheet is an editor that allows for execution of SQL statements, scripts, and PL/SQL anonymous blocks. SELECT statements can be executed to return results in a spreadsheet-like 'grid' or can be executed as a script such to emulate SQL*Plus behavior and output
• DBA Console allows users with administrative privileges to access DBA features such as database init file configuration, RMAN backup, storage, etc.

Incentivized

• The ability to parameterize searches more would be advantageous. For example, being able to specify to only look for certain columns, certain data type changes, etc.
• The output reports from dbForge are very plain and could contain more detail, and perhaps be structured more like a pivot table form Excel

Incentivized

• Finding if a feature exists or not in IntelliJ IDEA can be challenging.
• For example, if we know how to format a particular file, the command is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+L, but if we don't, then finding it is difficult.
• Setting up a project interpreter and directory structure might not be intuitive at first.
• Git integration can be improved. For example, it isn't easy to rebase using UI in IntelliJ IDEA.

Incentivized

• Inability to run multiple queries on the same database. You can only run one query on a given database.
• Analytical models created from complex tables isn't accurate, and needs work.
• Inability to view multiple tables of a database side-by-side. When trying to find correlations between tables, it would help to be able to see them at once on the same page.

Incentivized

VS Code is maturing and has a Scala plugin now. The overall experience with VS Code - for web development at least - is very snappy/fast. IntelliJ feels a bit sluggish in comparison. If that Scala plugin for VS Code is deemed mature enough - we may not bother renewing and resort to the Community Edition if we need it.

Incentivized

We had already thought of changing to TOAD, but we decided to stick with Oracle SQL Developer until the end.

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dbForge Studio (Edge) has a great UI and it's versatile, but it still has some glitches. Its multiple database support makes it possible to stick with only one UI to handle different RDBM systems, even though you have to redefine user credentials for each new connection (no copying/cloning feature for database connections). The Edit View and diagramming features also could be improved.

There is always room for improvement, but I haven't met any IDE that I liked more so far. Even if it did not fit a use case right out of the box, there is always a way to configure how it works to do just that.

Incentivized

Oracle SQL Developer is very easy to use and there are a wide range of courses available which can help you get started just within a day. Data can be exported in multiple formats based on user requirements. Organizational data can be stored and management effectively using Oracle SQL Developer. All the data, tables, sequences, indexes can be easily created and updated in Oracle SQL Developer.

Incentivized

Although experience here is limited, as only one question has been asked and answered promptly, the registration and licensing process was very smooth and professional. There are forums online that discuss dbForge issues, as well as a Facts and Questions section on dbForge's website, so product support does seem to exist if needed.

Incentivized

Customer support is really good in the case of IntelliJ. If you are paying for this product then, the company makes sure that you will get all the services adequately. Regular update patches are provided to improve the IDE. An online bug report makes it easier for the developers to find the solution as fast as possible. The large online community also helps to find the various solutions to the issues.

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Large user community support

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This installs just like any other application - its pretty straight forward. Perhaps licensing could be more challenging - but if you use the cloud licensing they offer its as simple as having engineers login to the application and it just works.

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Just download and uncompress!

Incentivized

Before choosing dbForge Studio I evaluated at least a dozen tools, especially on the Visual Query Builder function. For now, I have identified only one product that has a better Visual Query Builder than dbForge Studio. This other product also manages UNIONs, while dbStudio still doesn't do it visually. However, the better alternative product is enormously slower in operations and less feature-rich than DbForge Studio

Eclipse is just so old, like a dinosaur, compared to IntelliJ. There are still formats that Eclipse supports better, especially old and/or propriety ones. Still, most of the modern software development needs can be done on IntelliJ, & in a much better way, some of them are not even supported on Eclipse.

Incentivized

I have started to use Toad for Oracle recently because it is easier to sort and filter results, due to their memory sort feature that puts the results from your query in memory so that you don't have to rerun your query. I have used SQL Developer to easily update records in tables that I need to fix. I haven't found an easy way to do this in Toad other than writing SQL insert statements.

Incentivized

• Saved a TON of time when looking at massive amounts of parent/child data by allowing us to just use the master-detail browser.
• Very little training time needed for employees that are already used to using SQL Management Studio. This is a proper Windows UI application.
• Very cost effective to purchase the standard edition for every employee that needs it, but the free edition does most of what they need too!

Incentivized

• Easier to find bugs and debugs, thus reducing man hours and generating immediate dollar impact.
• Coding time is lessened, which in turn again reduces man hours and generates immediate dollar impact.
• Refactoring code is more innovative and easy here, resulting in more maintainable code.

Incentivized

• It gives 100% return on investment as it is free of cost.
• No need to have multiple tools for each database
• Considering the employee training, so one can save money on training, as it is not very hard to use so still savings.

Incentivized