How to use IntelliJ formatter in Vscode

An attempt to unify Java code formatting between Vscode and IntelliJ.

From IntelliJ, export the eclipse formatter file (XML) from settings > editor > Code Style > Java.

IntelliJ settings

In Vscode you can download the extension — Language Support for Java™ by Red Hat which can import settings from XML files.

In Vscode > user — settings.json add the following

    "java.format.enabled": true,
    "java.format.settings.url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/google/styleguide/gh-pages/eclipse-java-google-style.xml",
    "[java]": {
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "redhat.java"
    }

you can replace the URL with the local file path or a GitHub XML raw file link (of the previously exported IntelliJ XML file)

for more information on the Vscode extension, you can refer following links

• https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/java/java-linting
• https://github.com/redhat-developer/vscode-java/wiki/Formatter-settings

However, do note that there still might be differences in formatting between both IDEs (I think it’s due to IntelliJ having a separate IntelliJ code style XML along with Eclipse XML which overrides some rules). I prefer to use the eclipse-java-google-style.xml on both IDEs as it seems more consistent while formatting.