Products · Product
Eclipse
Raised as a usability problem by 362 people on Hacker News over 20 years (2007–2026), in 263 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Startup takes forever and the interface lags during useUnreviewed
20072026- Feels sluggish and slow to start, and used to hog memory until it crawled2023-12-28
- Painfully slow to use and hard to navigate2023-12-28
- Takes forever to start and the UI is laggy during regular use2023-12-28
Interface lags, making the user wait while programmingUnreviewed
20072026- Code completion is so slow the CPU pegs and can't keep up with typing2023-02-27
- Laggy and slow to respond when used for coding2019-02-28
- UI lags and makes the user wait while programming2016-03-04
Forced into a workspace with strange errors that can't be fixedUnreviewed
20072026- Forced into a workspace and strange errors the user couldn't figure out how to fix2021-03-17
- Must re-setup workspace each time, no keyboard tab switching, cryptic find-in-project2016-07-29
- Workspace adds pointless workflow steps; can't open single files or folders from command line2015-09-24
Simplest tasks are hard to figure out in the interfaceUnreviewed
20072026- Search is spread across a 12-item menu and 7-tab dialogs, far more than needed2018-04-27
- Finding options in menus is so hard people resort to searching Google2015-09-24
- Intimidating interface, not user friendly for beginners learning Java2012-01-16
Autocomplete pops up constantly with no easy way to learn optionsUnreviewed
20072026- Autocomplete pops up constantly with dozens of options and no easy way to learn more2018-02-05
- Autocomplete is finicky about when it triggers2014-04-03
- Autocomplete freezes, deleting one character every few seconds while it catches up2012-12-06
Fixing an error means checking out source and a convoluted buildUnreviewed
20072026- Red error lines and console output are hidden among many distractions, so build failure reasons are easy to miss2021-11-07
- Builds randomly fail and then succeed on rebuild without changes2012-09-01
- Shows build errors on save even though the user runs programs from the command line2010-03-05
Maven builds only work after restarting EclipseUnreviewed
20072026- Couldn't get the Eclipse Maven plugin to work at all2021-08-21
- Eclipse's Maven plugin often fails to build, and manual builds need a workspace refresh2018-04-27
- Eclipse can't open a large Maven project properly and performs terribly2014-09-08
Needs many extra plugins before working with Maven projectsUnreviewed
20072026- Setting up Maven support takes many hidden steps; menu options hard to locate2015-12-14
- Could never get Maven integration to work with a custom setup2013-12-11
- Maven plugin confusing; running a clean requires creating a bogus run configuration2013-05-17
Git integration is too hard to use effectivelyUnreviewed
20072026- Git operations in Eclipse are far harder than using the command line2023-12-28
- Nearly impossible to disable built-in git integration2018-02-23
- Git integration is so hard to use it's nearly useless2016-01-26
Layout switches unexpectedly when debuggingUnreviewed
20072026- UI switches layouts when debugging, and plugins are hard to get working2023-12-28
- Window layout doesn't switch back automatically after exiting debugging2021-01-30
- Interface is clunky to switch between debug and code views; debugger is buggy and slow2013-02-11
Choosing the wrong download edition wastes hours of setupUnreviewed
20072026- Picking the wrong edition from many on the download page wastes hours of setup2023-02-27
- Confusing download variants with no explanation, and UI layout rearranges unexpectedly2022-01-11
- Hard to pick the right download among a bewildering number of options2009-09-12
Default layout leaves only a tiny window for codeUnreviewed
20072026- Setting up a project is messy and the default layout leaves a tiny code window2023-12-28
- Cluttered layout left only a tiny area to type code, forcing horizontal scrolling2015-12-01
- UI keeps shrinking the coding area to a tiny size2011-01-20
Plugin search takes minutes, freezing the whole interface while loadingUnreviewed
20072026- Plugin search takes minutes and freezes the whole UI while loading2024-03-11
- Searching for packages with All Available Sites takes over 30 seconds2013-05-17
- Searching takes forever and the IDE freezes several times a day2010-12-19
Plugin development is poorly documented and hard to debugUnreviewed
20072026- Getting the ADT plugin to work with Eclipse was a nightmare2014-03-24
- Extending Eclipse plugins is baffling, poorly documented, and very hard to debug2014-02-27
- PHP debugging in Eclipse is hard to configure and frustrating to use2011-01-28
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Editor is slow and periodically pauses or crashes, breaking concentration2026-05-06
- Eclipse is unintuitive, clunky and slow to use2026-01-22
- Bloated, slow, bad UX, and crashed for no clear reason2026-01-22
- Slow, janky interaction with abysmal UX2026-01-22
- Eclipse is bloated, memory hungry, and almost unusable2025-12-04
- Sluggish, unintuitive and buggy to work with2025-10-18
- IDEs feel unbearably slow and overly complex to developers2025-02-16
- Plugin updates repeatedly break the team's working setup, halting work2025-02-10
- Can't find Python or a commit option; errors and Git setup are confusing2025-02-08
- Setting up a new Eclipse instance on a machine is maddening, with components hard to assemble2025-02-08
- Client is overly complicated and low level, making simple tasks hard2024-10-22
- Slow to open projects, files and scrolling; go-to-file only lists opened files2024-06-30
- Ties projects to windows in a way that frustrates the user2024-06-30
- Confusing naming: three similarly named components that are hard to tell apart2024-06-29
- Must put projects in one directory or create a workspace just to open a project2024-06-29
- Buggy, slow and confusing to use2024-06-29
- Option+shift+right selects only part of camelCase words, unlike other macOS text fields2024-04-11
- Plugin search takes minutes and freezes the whole UI while loading2024-03-11
- Described as a hardcore masochism tool, implying it is very hard to use2024-01-28
- Plugins fail to install due to unresolvable dependency conflicts in new Eclipse2024-01-20
- Takes many seconds to start and responds slowly to typing2023-12-29
- Painfully slow to use and hard to navigate2023-12-28
- Feels sluggish and slow to start, and used to hog memory until it crawled2023-12-28
- Setting up a project is messy and the default layout leaves a tiny code window2023-12-28
- Startup is slow because it preloads everything, interrupting the developer2023-12-28
- GUI editor plugin was slow and clunky to use in practice2023-12-28
- Git operations in Eclipse are far harder than using the command line2023-12-28
- UI switches layouts when debugging, and plugins are hard to get working2023-12-28
- Often laggy and slow to respond, making it feel bloated2023-12-28
- Takes forever to start and the UI is laggy during regular use2023-12-28
- Most editing actions take more clicks or keystrokes than in IntelliJ2023-12-28
- With plugins installed, it became unusable and couldn't keep up with typing2023-12-28
- Felt extremely sluggish and clunky, and handled multiple monitors poorly2023-10-19
- Users struggle to find and open the actual files in their project2023-10-12
- Library must be added by filling forms in many places instead of one simple list2023-08-11
- Plugins eat half the screen and Eclipse slows down for no reason until restarted2023-04-15
- Code completion is so slow the CPU pegs and can't keep up with typing2023-02-27
- Picking the wrong edition from many on the download page wastes hours of setup2023-02-27
- Execution is unstable and works slowly, though the platform idea is nice2023-02-10
- Feels sluggish and becomes unstable as plugins are added2022-12-16
- Every package feels like a separate object that doesn't integrate with the others2022-12-10
- Questionable usability and performance compared to IntelliJ2022-10-25
- Buggy and lacks helpful refactoring, inline hints and navigation features2022-06-29
- Eclipse is slow and buggy to use, and plugin work needs lots of boilerplate2022-01-28
- Confusing download variants with no explanation, and UI layout rearranges unexpectedly2022-01-11
- Author couldn't navigate code in Eclipse and quit Android development because of it2022-01-10
- Feels slow, laggy and buggy for the user in every form2022-01-06
- Had enough rough spots and slowness to lose to IntelliJ2021-12-24
- Beginners must copy-paste opaque command line text they don't understand2021-11-08
- Students using Eclipse can't get their imports working right2021-11-07