Helps create Java applications for mobile, desktop and the web as well as HTML5 apps. It supports a variety of programming languages including Java, JavaScript, C++, HTML, PHP, XML, JPS, etc.
NetBeans IDE (or Integrated Development Environment) is a leading IDE from Oracle Corp, primarily aimed at Java developers. It is suitable for the rapid development/deployment of desktop, mobile and web applications that may be based on Java (i.e. Java SE/Java EE/Java ME and related components such as Swing GUI,JUnit,JBoss etc.),HTML5, PHP & C/C++ platforms. NetBeans is truly comprehensive because it takes care of the complete life-cycle activities involved in a software project. Not only is it easy to type in new source code into its Java-oriented text editor, but also to run and test code, optimize it for best performance,release it under proper version control, and so on. Besides, it is an excellent tool to use in a networked environment. As for example,when a team of programmers works together on a project. The team-members may work from different geographical locations and/or at different times of day. In such case, all workflow related issues will be managed by NetBeans. JUnit, a component of the IDE, helps in writing and running unit test plans. NetBeans can handle practically any number of refactoring tasks without difficulty. If there are gaps between your specific requirements and the IDE, it is very likely that one or more of its over 800 third-party plug-ins will fit such gap(s) and make it a perfect fit for you. The IDE is self-contained, so that, when working in it, you will rarely (if ever) have to switch to any other running program to get your work done.
The latest version of NetBeans 8.0 offers many enhancements and improvements. Java 8 support is the most important among them. New language structures and capabilities have been introduced in Java 8. All new features are supported by NetBeans 8.0. There is a more widespread use of Lambdas in Java 8. Turning to Lambdas helps in overcoming shortcomings of earlier Java code. For example, anonymous inter-classes that use a single abstract method can be converted to Lambdas. Lambda expressions may also be used inside iterative loops (like the 'for' loop) for better processing, and so on.
Another important feature we encounter in NetBeans 8.0 is the ability to develop/deploy Java ME applications directly in embedded devices such as the Raspberry Pi. More powerful HTML5 applications may be developed due to significant enhancements made to angular JS.
There is much more to NetBeans 8.0. The interested reader may explore Maven, that displays module dependencies graphically, JSF Page creation by means of wizards, PrimeFaces code generator, out of the box version control tools Git, Mercurial & Subversion, etc.
v12.6 [Dec 7, 2021]
Java Enhancements:
Java Editor:
- nbjavac-upgrade-to-jdk-17: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3112.
- Auto completion for "record" is now prefix aware: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3227.
- Add support for Pattern Matching for switch (Preview): https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3007.
- When java.lang is not available, avoid throwing a FatalError: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/2947.
- Java code completion should show effectivelly final variables for use from anonymous classes: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3106.
- Fixing TreeUtilities.pathFor in the presence of the synthetic 'value=' in annotations: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3103.
- Include URLs in Java code templates for easier customization: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3141.
- Improve wait condition for the test: both Lookup and configurations must change: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3140.
- General Availability for javadoc 17: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3222
- CheckRegexp hint causes all lines with regexp shown with a warning: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3287.
- NoSuchMethodError thrown while applying CreateClassFix: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3199.
- Return a copy instead of cached array: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3163.
Gradle
- Bumped Gradle Tooling to 7.3 with Java 17 support: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3246.
- Gradle projects should recognize Kotlin source directories: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/2541.
- Make Gradle Project test close connections to Gradle Daemon: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3193.
- Allow to use Gradle 7.2 distributions on JDK17: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3216.
- Prevent NPE form GradleDistributionManager: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3195.
- New Project wizard for Gradle should use gradle init: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3084.
- Updating the Java Frontend project template to work with Gradle 7.0: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3083.
- LanguageCache$Loader is not found in newer GraalVMs: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3235.
Maven
- Support Maven Wrapper (mvnw) in projects: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3198.
- UTF-8 input is broken in Maven project: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3289.
- Maven looks for annotation processor classpath in compiler plugin’s configuration: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3190.
Groovy
- Cached Transformation Classloader, based on set of classpath roots: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3213.
- Use static type checking to attribute AST: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3125.
- Performance: groovy loads classes using FileSystems: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3165.
- Avoid ClassLoader resource lookups: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3175.
- Must reach ELEMENTS_RESOLVED before working with java els: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3184.
- Fix test failures in Groovy.editor https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3197.
- Fix wrong Groovy version in ant library: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3247.
Jakarta EE
- Payara Server UI disabled on the failed startup: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3273.
- Add details for Glassfish 6.2.1 server and improve version detection: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3288.
- Fix test failures in 'j2ee.core': https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3226.
- Java Maven Web Project not created properly: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3170.
LSP
- Use RequestProcessor to fix SecurityException:setContextClassLoader: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3082.
- Find tests on initial scan: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3093.
- Move refactoring added: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3123.
- Prevent from NPE when no NetBeans project is opened: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3120.
- Restart frame action implemented in the DAP: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3119.
- Eating VSCode own Dog Food: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3129.
- Show test results for MX projects: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3128.
- Extract Superclass and Extract Interface refactorings added: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3138.
- Client Improvements (Foldmanager, Performance): https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3153.
- Proper handling of LSP logging breakpoints: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3150.
- Pull Up and Push Down refactorings added: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3149.
- By default build release-like version of .vsix: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3118.
- Various Surround With refactoring fixes: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3169.
- Surround With refactorings implemented: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3157.
- ChangeMethodParameters refactoring added: https://github.com/apache/netbeans/pull/3174.
