DrJava vs Eclipse Che

DrJava is a free, open-source development environment for writing Java programs, designed primarily for students. Its intelligent editor supports coding, while the Interactions pane lets users evaluate Java code interactively. The environment includes JUnit testing, a source-level debugger and Javadoc generation for source files. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux under a standard BSD open-source license. The current beta is compatible with Java 8, identified by the project page as the only supported version of traditional Java. That beta is distributed only as a JAR, which the page says is intended to reduce cross-platform compatibility issues. The Eclipse plugin is described as very old and compatible only with Eclipse versions from the same era. The Linux FAQ reports an incompatibility with the Compiz window manager and recommends disabling Compiz if it occurs. Bug reports and feature requests require a SourceForge account login. The Free plan costs nothing, with no free trial listed.

Eclipse Che is an open-source development environment that runs IDEs in Kubernetes. Users create workspaces from a Git repository or sample, then access them online through a browser. Visual Studio Code and JetBrains IDEs are available. Workspace definitions use Devfiles, YAML files that can be versioned with application source code, and a devcontainer configuration is listed. GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket identities can connect through OAuth. Teams can share a development setup by URL, and Che can run on public or private Kubernetes clusters, including self-hosted deployments. Access uses OIDC authentication and Kubernetes RBAC authorization. Enterprise support includes air-gapped networks, TLS certificates, proxies, and FIPS. Code is cloned to persistent storage by default, but other file changes disappear when a workspace stops unless stored on a persistent volume. Che is free, with no stated usage limits.