JetBrains Enabling Wayland Support For IntelliJ-Based IDEs

For those making use of the IntelliJ integrated development environment (IDE), JetBrains has been working to enable native Wayland support.

JetBrains is working on Wayland support for IntelliJ-based IDEs to enhance the desktop Linux experience as well as for running under Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSLg). The Wayland support isn't feature complete yet but is already running some Java Swing and AWT applications. So far software-based rendering is wokring, basic window decorations, HiDPI and multi-monitor, and other basic functionality. Moving ahead they will be working on Vulkan-based accelerated rendering, input methods, clipboard and drag and drop support, and other features.

JetBrains wrote on their blog in announcing this Wayland support:

"Wayland’s architecture offers inherent benefits in terms of performance and security. By sidestepping the complexities of the aging X11 protocol, Wayland provides a more streamlined mechanism for communication between applications and the display server. This translates to faster rendering and a reduced likelihood of security vulnerabilities stemming from X11’s outdated design. As a result, IntelliJ-based IDEs running on Wayland are expected to exhibit improved stability and responsiveness.

The effort to make IntelliJ-based IDEs a first-class citizen of the Wayland desktop is ongoing. The software-based rendering already delivers performance in terms of FPS (frames per second) on par with the current X11 toolkit. The focus now is on identifying the remaining gaps in the toolkit’s implementation so that it can sustain an IDE running natively on Wayland."

It's great seeing more and more commercial applications and other user-space software beginning to provide native Wayland support rather than continuing to depend upon XWayland.