I am an avid Emacs user and use JDE for facilitation of various Java development
tasks. However, I still find use of some IDEs beneficial, particularly for
GUI development. However, I don't use the IDE blindly and I understand and
inspect the code that is generated. The benefit is a great boost in productivity
because GUI development is tedious if not assisted by some visual aids. The
other place I see the value of IDEs is in generating boilerplate code for
EJBs where multiple classes/interfaces need to be created and they have to
satisfy various requirements. I still use Emacs for inserting the business
logic in the beans, afterwards. So, my only driver for using an IDE, when
I do, is productivty gains.

In team development, I have worked with both types of developers - IDE lovers
and IDE-haters. And then those who don't use IDEs are divided between Emacs
and Vi fans. Add configuration management to the mix and it will be a recipe
for disaster if you forced the IDE users away from the IDE.

Regards,
Pawan