Developer Tools – Is This IntelliJ Plugin a Must-Have?

#productivity #intellij #java #devtools

Chances are, every developer using IntelliJ has their own favorite plugins.

If I could only pick one – excluding the ones that come preinstalled – it would definitely be the Developer Tools – IntelliJ IDEs Plugin.

Why do I love it?

Because it brings so many small, everyday tools right into the IDE – tools I often need, and previously had to Google or open a terminal for.

Having them one click away just saves time and keeps my flow intact.

Let me highlight a few that I personally find the most useful:

✨ Handy Features I Use Constantly

🕒 Cron Expression Builder

Need to generate a cron string? You can build it visually in seconds – no need to memorize which field is minutes, hours, or day of the week.

📅 Date and Time Converter

Whether I need a Unix timestamp or a formatted date, it's right there – fast and customizable.

🔐 Hashing Tool

Quickly generate MD5, SHA, or other hashes – great when you need to work with APIs, auth tokens, or just test inputs.

📄 Lorem Ipsum Generator

Self-explanatory – need placeholder text for UI or emails? A few clicks, and you've got paragraphs of it.

📝 Notes

Probably the one I use the most. Drop any thought, reminder, or snippet here without polluting your codebase with // TODO or // FIXME.

Clean, accessible, and incredibly useful.

🔑 Password Generator

Need a secure password while developing something? No need to open a browser tab.

📷 QR Code & Barcode Generator

More useful than you'd think – especially for frontend developers working with mobile or packaging systems.

🧹 SQL Formatter

Have a messy SQL query? One click and it's neatly formatted – no more squinting at spaghetti.

🆔 UUID Generator

Testing something that needs unique IDs? Boom, instant UUIDs, right inside your IDE.

🎨 Color Picker

Super handy for frontend devs or game developers (hello LibGDX!).

Need a hex code or RGBA for a UI element? Grab it in seconds.

🧭 Final Thoughts

So… is it a must-have? Technically, no – it won't write your code or make architectural decisions.

It's not an AI tool.

But in real-world, everyday development, it can save you precious minutes and remove small but annoying distractions.

And honestly, for something free, lightweight, and that integrates so naturally into the IntelliJ ecosystem – it's worth a try.

🔧 Have you used this plugin? Or do you have a different favorite tool I should know about? Let me know in the comments!