What’s new in IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2

Refactoring methods with multiple exit points

We’ve added a new intention that you can run to transform a method with multiple returns into a single exit point and prepare it for the Inline Method refactoring. A method may include multiple exit points by defining multiple return statements. When you inline such a method in IntelliJ IDEA, it can be modified to define just one exit point in the form of a single return statement to exit the method. Such methods are less confusing as you have one path through them and you don’t need to search for the exit.

‘Constant conditions & exceptions’ pinpoints the source of the problem

We’ve topped off the good old ‘Constant conditions & exceptions’ inspection with a new action called ‘Find Cause’. In addition to notifying you about possible or actual issues, the inspection navigates you to the questionable piece of code. No more reading through the file and searching for the necessary line.

Modified inspection weeds out duplicates from your code Ultimate

We’ve merged the ‘Duplicated code fragment’ inspection for Java with the ‘Locate duplicates’ tool for other languages, to give you a powerful new inspection called ‘Duplicated code fragment’ which combines the best of both worlds. It’s configurable, works on the fly, and supports lots of languages other than Java.

Updated completion popup suggests correcting mistyped patterns

In IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2, we’ve changed the look of the code completion popup and made it even more helpful. From now on, completion recognizes mistyped patterns and suggests possible fixes, so if you type “retru” by accident, the IDE will suggest replacing it with “return”.

Structural Search shows occurrences instantly

Structural Search is a powerful feature that allows you to search for a specific code pattern in your project. IntelliJ IDEA highlights strings that match your search in the editor as you type. What’s more, the IDE displays the filter values right in the editing area of the Structural Search dialog. There is no more need to continuously re-run the search while you are experimenting with the pattern.

Services tool window: a single control panel for all connections, configurations, and more

Now you have everything you need to control all under one view. A brand new Services tool window condenses and encapsulates the most useful tools: RunDashboard, Database Console, Docker, and Application Servers views. It also provides a single display and control point for connections, run and debug configurations, application servers, database consoles, and more. For databases, the tool window features the query live timer which shows you the duration of each connection running a query.

A running Docker container lets you view its file system

In IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2, you can view the file system of a running Docker container in the Files tab of the Docker node in the Services tool window.

Each directory can have its own code style

Learn more

Syntax highlighting is available for over 20 languages

IntelliJ IDEA is now integrated with the TextMate editor to provide out-of-the-box syntax highlighting for over 20 different programming languages. If you need to add highlighting for any additional languages, all you need is to do is to download the TextMate bundle for the language and import it into the IDE.

The ‘Move Caret to Next Word’ action provides options

Now you can choose where to place the caret: at the end of the current word or at the beginning of the next word. Pick the behavior that works best for you in the Caret Movement option in Settings/Preferences | Editor | General.

Tab now takes you outside the closing bracket or quote

Selected code gets wrapped in quotes or braces automatically

macOS now has a new default keymap

We’ve changed the default keymap for macOS from Mac OS X to macOS 10.5+. We’ve also renamed the keymaps: Mac OS X 10.5 is now called Default for macOS, and the outdated Mac OS X is now IntelliJ IDEA Classic.

Inspection popup shows the most relevant fix

This release delivers fixes suggested by code inspections even faster. Now the inspection popup not only describes the problem, but also shows you the most relevant solution straight away. Press Alt+Shift+Enter if the fix works for you, or use the Alt+Enter shortcut to pick another option from the list.

New Class dialog gets a new look

The New Class dialog has a new look. What’s more, now it lets you preview the types of classes you can create.

Windows User interface has a fresh classy appearance

On Windows 10, the IDE now has a new modern borderless look.

Project View now shows file size and modification time

A new option helps you keep an eye on what’s going on in your project and shows the size and modification timestamps for all items in the Project View tree. To enable the feature, select View | Appearance | Descriptions in Tree Views.

Editor and debugger tabs get a unified look

The design of the editor and debugger tabs has changed to look the same in the Light and Darcula themes. In the Light theme, we’ve aligned the tab’s height with the height of the tool window header. We’ve also removed the white line under the tabs to minimize visual clutter.

Find Usages toolbar becomes more elegant

Continuing the trend of removing unpopular icons from toolbars and making them less visually loaded, we’ve trimmed down the toolbar of the Find Usages tool window. Some icons are now grouped and some are gone completely.

Gradle features a new Dependencies diagram Ultimate

In this release, we’ve added the long-awaited Gradle Dependencies diagram. Just click the Show Dependencies icon on the Gradle tool window toolbar or press Alt+Shift+Ctrl+U/Alt+Shift+Cmd+U. Select the nodes from this diagram to look at their neighbors, and click the nodes to see how they are connected to the root.

Gradle task output is improved

The status tree and output console of Gradle operations are now shown side by side to help you monitor the sync/build process. This offers you more detailed and familiar Gradle output information.

Working with Gradle settings gets easier

We’ve simplified the Gradle settings dialog by deprecating several options. What’s more, IntelliJ IDEA automatically configures the settings for you when you open, import, or create Gradle projects.

Maven sync output is shown in the Build tool window

IntelliJ IDEA now reports the Maven import process in the Build tool window, together with the Maven build output. This makes the progress and error reporting more visible, simplifies navigation, and makes the Gradle/Maven experience more consistent.

Maven dependency completion works out of the box

Code completion for dependencies in the pom.xml now works out of the box. Previously, it only worked if you triggered the indexing of your Maven repository.

Commit files from the Local Changes tab

Smart VCS integration reminds you to commit files

IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2 reminds you to modify the files you have usually committed before together with the files you modified recently.

VCS Log tab allows you to select the information to show

Now you can choose which columns you want to see in the VCS Log tab. Click the eye icon, select ‘Show Columns’, and then select the columns you want to display: author, date, or commit hash.

Git Merge and Cherry-Pick can be aborted from the UI

Now you don’t need to switch to the terminal to abort Git Merge or Cherry-Pick anymore. The Abort Merge/Abort Cherry-pick option shows up in the Branches popup while the process is running.

Show History for a folder displays results on the Git Log tab

Comparing branches becomes more convenient

The ‘Compare with Current’ action in the Branches popup is divided into 2 separate actions: ‘Compare with Current’ and ‘Show Diff with Working Tree’. The updated ‘Compare with Current’ action now shows the difference in commits, while the new ‘Show Diff with Working Tree’ action shows the file diff.

Diff now shows the method with modified code

While in the “Collapse Unchanged Fragments” mode, the Diff now shows the method in which the current chunk of code is modified. It makes it easier for you to not only see the change, but to understand the context as well.

JPA for Kotlin gets more coding assistance features Ultimate

IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2 comes with a wider range of JPA coding assistance features for Kotlin. Now you can generate Kotlin entity classes on selected tables with the Generate Kotlin Entities script. The script is easily customizable; go to the Scripts Directory and experiment with the script by modifying it to solve a specific task. What’s more, the IDE can now navigate you to the corresponding column or table with the ‘Go to Declaration’ action (Cmd+B/Ctrl+B).

Interactive mode for scratch files shows changes on the fly

As you know, in Kotlin you can perform small experiments with your codebase using scratch files. Now you can use the interactive mode which shows you the results on the fly after a certain timeout, without the need to explicitly rerun the script.

TODO list displays multiline comments for Kotlin

How often do you check the TODO list in your project? IntelliJ IDEA now correctly highlights multiline TODO comments in Kotlin and displays them as a list in the TODO tool window.

New way to highlight type mismatches

Instead of underlining type mismatch errors with a red squiggle, which might span across multiple lines, IntelliJ IDEA now shows a type ascription hint and highlights the part that doesn’t match the expected type.

Learn more

Type mismatch tooltips show diff

Type mismatch tooltips are now fine-grained, vertically-aligned, and offer pairwise comparison. The algorithm takes syntactic sugar, subtyping, variance, and other tricky stuff into account.

Type hints are interactive

Type annotation hints now support dynamic folding, tooltips, navigation, and brace matching. The type hints are now shown only when truly needed.

Expressions are wrapped / unwrapped as you type

Previously, you had to use intentions to wrap (or unwrap) expressions inside curly braces. Now IntelliJ IDEA can do that automatically, as you type.

Redundant code is now unobtrusive

IntelliJ IDEA has always used grey to mark unused imports or unreachable code as “redundant” (as defined by the color scheme). Some other redundant code, however, was highlighted as “generic warning or error”, which polluted code and concealed actual errors. Now we use grey to color all redundant code uniformly, so the highlighting is less obtrusive.

Improved code completion

You can now complete the whole case clause (whereas before, it was only possible to complete patterns in case clauses). Completion works not only for match statements, but for higher-order functions as well.

Enhanced language injections Ultimate

Now you can inject languages into multiline string literals with margins.

Rename refactoring for JavaScript is now enhanced Ultimate

When you rename a symbol in a JavaScript or TypeScript file, the IDE now groups together dynamic usages and, by default, excludes them from the refactoring. This makes the refactoring more accurate and gives you more control over what exactly should be renamed in the Refactoring Preview tool window.

Full-text Search offers comprehensive results Ultimate

Filtering by data source available in search and navigation Ultimate

Locating an object in the GoTo popup is not always easy, especially when there are too many similar items. In IntelliJ IDEA 2019.2, you can choose where to search: in a particular data source or in a group of sources. The same works for Find In Path. This is extremely useful if you are looking for source code inside of DDLs of other objects.

HTTP client supports cURL requests Ultimate

Now you can paste a cURL request string into the HTTP client and have the IDE automatically convert it to a full request.

HTTP client keeps cookies Ultimate

Suppose you’ve made one request to authenticate on the service, and in subsequent requests you would like to call some endpoints that require additional permissions. Previously, you would lose the cookies from the first response. But not anymore: the IDE now keeps all the cookies for you and transfers them in the next requests.

Exit codes for file merge from the command line

IntelliJ IDEA now returns proper exit codes when used as a command line tool for merging files. Now you can use IntelliJ IDEA as a merge tool in any custom workflow. We also support the --wait command line option for editing files from the terminal in a blocking manner.

Kubernetes plugin gets Kustomize support Ultimate

External resources can be added using URLs Ultimate

You can now load a custom resource definition (CRD) specification from external sources using URLs. To add the specifications, go to Settings/Preferences | Languages & Frameworks | Kubernetes and add URLs to the CRD specification. (Previously, it was possible to add a CRD from local files.)