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Using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for developing applications saves you time by managing windows, settings, and data. In addition, an IDE can store repetitive tasks through macros and abbreviations. Drag-and-drop features make creating graphical user interface (GUI) components or accessing databases easy, and highlighted code and debugging features alert you to errors in your code. The NetBeans IDE is open source and is written in the Java programming language. It provides the services common to creating desktop applications -- such as window and menu management, settings storage -- and is also the first IDE to fully support JDK 6.0 features. The NetBeans platform and IDE are free for commercial and noncommercial use, and they are supported by Sun Microsystems. The NetBeans IDE has many features and tools for each of the Java platforms. Those in the following list are not limited to the Java SE platform but are useful for building, debugging, and deploying applications and applets: Source Code Editor - Syntax highlighting for Java, JavaScript, XML, HTML, CSS, JSP, IDL
- Customizable fonts, colors, and keyboard shortcuts
- Live parsing and error marking
- Pop-up Javadoc for quick access to documentation
- Advanced code completion
- Automatic indentation, which is customizable
- Word matching with the same initial prefixes
- Navigation of current class and commonly used features
- Macros and abbreviations
- Goto declaration and Goto class
- Matching brace highlighting
- JumpList allows you to return the cursor to previous modification
GUI Builder - Fully WYSIWYG designer with Test Form feature
- Support for visual and nonvisual forms
- Extensible Component Palette with preinstalled Swing and AWT components
- Component Inspector showing a component's tree and properties
- Automatic one-way code generation, fully customizable
- Support for AWT/Swing layout managers, drag-and-drop layout customization
- Powerful visual editor
- Support for null layout
- In-place editing of text labels of components, such as labels, buttons, and text fields
- JavaBeans support, including installing, using, and customizing properties, events, and customizers
- Visual JavaBean customization -- ability to create forms from any JavaBean classes
- Connecting beans using Connection wizard
- Zoom view ability
Database Support - Database schema browsing to see the tables, views, and stored procedures defined in a database
- Database schema editing using wizards
- Data view to see data stored in tables
- SQL and DDL command execution to help you write and execute more complicated SQL or DDL commands
- Migration of table definitions across databases from different vendors
- Works with databases, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, IBM DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, PointBase, Sybase, Informix, Cloudscape, Derby, and more
The NetBeans IDE also provides full-featured refactoring tools, which allow you to rename and move classes, fields, and methods, as well as change method parameters. In addition, you get a debugger and an Ant-based project system. You can get NetBeans and other Java products at netbeans.org.
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