JetBrains tools with new UI, native TypeScript and many AI assistants

JetBrains presents new development environments for PHP, Python, Ruby, Unreal and the web. The manufacturer has revised the user interfaces, added AI functions and made TypeScript ubiquitously executable.

As with the recently released IntelliJ-IDEA from JetBrains, the new versions 2024.2 of PHPStorm, PyCharm, RubyMine and WebStorm start with the revised UI by default, which reserves more space in the interface for the code view and improves syntax highlighting. This now also structures the suggested code of the autocomplete in color and allows users to accept the suggestions step by step. The new UI also shows a preview of Search Everywhere.

In the Heise forums, the response to the new UI is divided and ranges from "I like it, if only because of better dpi scaling and font rendering..." to "I can't get to grips with the new user interface at all. It seems more confusing to me and the project tree is even more bloated." The old UI can be restored with a plug-in if desired.

The new AI functions, which are only available with the additional subscription, also offer highlighting in the code suggested by the AI, which can now be seen alongside the standard suggestions. In addition, the AI helps in many areas of programming work, for example in the terminal, with documentation or during testing.

A cross-tool innovation concerns TypeScript, which can now be executed and debugged directly. It can be called up in the context menu or via the run widget. Interested parties can download the new versions from the respective manufacturer's website, via the Toolbox app or as an Ubuntu snap.

Improvements in detail

Special innovations for PHPStorm 2024.2 concern the logging of Laravel, Symfony and WordPress, which is now also visually structured with color highlighting. This also applies to the cat, tail and head commands in the terminal. PHPStorm now also supports the PER style and Prettier.

RubyMine 2024.2 offers integrated support for Stimulus with .erb files. For interaction with Ruby on Rails, which has just been released in version 7.2, there is autocomplete for Kamal configurations, and Code Insight works with the rate_limit function from the upcoming Rails 8. The AI assistant knows the Ruby specialties and Ban is optionally used as the JS framework.

The new features in PyCharm 2024.2, such as the integration of Databricks and Hugging Face, mostly only apply to the Pro version. The paid features also include faster work with Jupyter, where PyCharms shows a preview of variables on mouse contact, without debugging and printing. The AI assistant is also familiar with Jupyter as well as database problems and SQL statements.

New paths for web frameworks

Version 2024.2 contains a number of new features for WebStorm, starting with the aforementioned executability of TypeScript. Framework developers will be delighted with the tool's new ability to route paths from Astro, Next.js, Nuxt, Remix and Svelte. For Svelte, the IDE now also supports Snipptes in version 5. Code for the JS runtime Bun can be debugged via the Debug Adapter Protocol, but only for Linux and MacOS. Windows is to follow.

Prettier is activated by default. A tailwind preview takes place immediately during auto-completion. WebStorm supports the Language Server Protocol for Astro and Language Service 2 for Vue. Other changes relate to version control and logging.

In Rider 2024.2 for .NET and the Unreal engine, there are only minor improvements and no new UI. In particular, the manufacturer has improved the debugging of the Unreal engine. It displays memory addresses as blueprint frames and the debugger's Modules View now also works with Unreal.

(who)