I need to use some tools for my project. I need a UML design tool and an IDE that supports Java and JSP.

MyEclipseIDE
Since I am fairly aquatinted with Eclipse I decided to use that for my IDE. However it does not come with JSP implementation as standard.

I did some looking online and I found that there are many plugins that help a bit but also have bugs or don’t quite do what I need.

Then I came across MyEclipseIDE and this seems to have everything. It integrates JSP with Eclipse and includes text completion and live deployment and building.

I have only briefly tested this but it seems to work well.

Currently I am using an evaluation version but if it lives up to my expectations I will purchase it in 30 days. It is $30 for 1 year.

Visual Paradigm UML
I also needed a UML design tool. I could not find any good free tools so I downloaded Visual Paradigm UML for a 30-day evaluation. So far it is pretty easy to use and I have been able to do all that I need so far. It was easy to install and intuitive to use (assuming you know what you want to do in UML).

I have downloaded the full enterprise version and I do not think that I can afford the $1680 that it costs. But the personal edition is only $70 so maybe that. I will have to ensure that the personal edition has all that I need before I make the plunge.

Tags: ide, tools