IntelliJ IDEA 2023.1 EAP Is Open!
This year’s first Early Access Program begins today! We invite you to take part and help us fine-tune the features that we plan to include in IntelliJ IDEA 2023.1.
If you haven’t yet participated in one of our Early Access Programs, here’s a blog post explaining the key concepts and benefits. Check it out and join us in building a great IDE!
The first IntelliJ IDEA 2023.1 EAP build includes a number of refinements to the IDE’s UI, an enhanced user experience for working with Markdown files, VCS improvements, and more.
You can download it from our website, get it from the free Toolbox App, or update to it using snaps if you’re an Ubuntu user.
Continue reading this blog post to learn more about the latest additions.
User experience
Full IDE zoom
It’s now possible to zoom into and out of IntelliJ IDEA entirely, increasing or decreasing the size of all UI elements at once. From the main menu, select View | Appearance and adjust the IDE’s scaling.
Additionally, you can make it easier to call these actions by assigning them custom shortcuts in Settings/Preferences | Keymap | Main Menu | View | Appearance.
New Remember size for each tool window setting
We’ve introduced a new layout option that allows you to unify the width of the side tool windows or retain the ability to freely adjust their sizes as you customize your layout. The new Remember size for each tool window checkbox is available in Settings/Preferences | Appearance | Appearance & Behavior | Tool Windows.
In the new UI, the setting is switched off by default, meaning that the tool windows are displayed featuring the unified width and their sizes remain constant when you switch between them. In the old UI, the option is switched on, so the tool windows have different widths, though you can choose to align them at any time simply by turning the setting off.
Visible file name pane when tabs are hidden in the new UI
We’ve fine-tuned the user experience of the new UI by adding a pane that displays the name of the file that is currently open when editor tabs are hidden.
Editor
New intention action for reformatting tables in Markdown files
A new intention action allows you to correct the formatting of tables in Markdown files. You can access the quick-fix via the Context actions shortcut (⌥⏎ / Alt+Enter) or by pressing the yellow bulb icon and selecting Reformat code from the list that appears.
Fill Paragraph for Markdown files
The Fill Paragraph editor action is now supported for Markdown files, allowing you to break long texts into several lines of even length. To do this, set the caret inside the paragraph you want to edit and call the action from the Edit menu or search for the Fill Paragraph command using Find Action (⇧⌘A / Ctrl+Shift+A) and execute it.
New Smart Keys settings page for Markdown
We’ve added a dedicated page for configuring and editing your Markdown preferences in Settings/Preferences | Editor | General | Smart Keys. This page should make it easier to manage your preferences, as it provides separate checkboxes for various editor features, replacing the single checkbox previously stored in Settings/Preferences | Languages & Frameworks.
Version Control Systems
VCS status color hints in the Structure tool window
To make tracking changes to files more convenient, we’ve added color hints to the Structure tool window. The names of modified objects will now become blue, and the names of the newly added objects will appear in the tool window highlighted in green.
Improved Branches popup
We’ve improved the usability of the Branches popup. For instance, navigating between branches is now easier, as they are grouped and stored in expandable lists.
Auto-completion in the Create New Branch popup
With IntelliJ IDEA 2023.1 EAP 1, we’ve implemented auto-completion in the Create New Branch popup. Once you start typing a name for your new branch, the IDE will suggest relevant prefixes based on the names of existing local branches.
Background pre-commit checks
We’ve reworked the behavior of the pre-commit checks for Git and Mercurial to speed up the overall commit process. Checks are now performed in the background after you commit but before you push.
Java
Auto-completion in the VM options field
We’ve integrated auto-completion functionality into the VM Options field of the Run/Debug configuration popup. Now, when you start typing the name of a flag, the IDE suggests a list of available command line options. This works for -XX: and -X options, as well as for some standard options that are not configured by IntelliJ IDEA automatically, like -ea, but not for -cp or –release.
Run / Debug
Option to assign a custom shortcut to run the current file with coverage
The first IntelliJ IDEA 2023.1 EAP build allows you to create a shortcut to launch the Run with coverage action for the file you currently have open, even if the run configuration hasn’t been created yet. To assign such a shortcut, go to Settings/Preferences | Keymap, look for the Run with Coverage context configuration option, and add a new key combination for it.
These are the most notable updates for the first week of the Early Access Program. The full list of the changes is available in the release notes.
Please take these new features for a test drive and let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter. If you encounter any bugs while working with the IDE, please submit a report to our issue tracker.
Happy developing!
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