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NetBeans 5.5: Java IDE Comes into Its Own
by Benoy Jose
NetBeans 5.5 is a surprise. I used it for the first time a couple of years ago and swore never to use it again. However, my curiosity was piqued recently as I heard the buzz about the redesigned NetBeans gaining traction in the development community. NetBeans 5.5 is not the NetBeans I threw away a few years ago. This IDE has grown really well and includes features that rival the finest in the market today. There are still a few problem areas (which are discussed below), but overall NetBeans is a production-ready IDE definitely worth a try. With the progress NetBeans has made, expect it to make substantial inroads into the vast IDE market that Eclipse has previously dominated.
System Requirements
- Operating System: Any operating system that supports the Java Virtual Machine
- RAM: 512MB (minimum)—1GB (recommended)
- Free Disk Space: 1GB
- JVM: JDK 5.0 and above
Installation
As a prerequisite, NetBeans requires the JDK 5.0 or better, installed on the system. Install the basic NetBeans package using the NetBeans IDE download. The other add-on packages, like Profiler and Visual Web pack, have to be downloaded separately and installed on top of the NetBeans IDE.
Another option is to download the Java Application Platform SDK Update 2, which will install NetBeans and the Application Server through a single setup. After you have installed NetBeans, you can install all the add-on packs that you need. For Java EE development, install the Enterprise pack, the Profiler and the Visual Web Pack. If you want to develop C or C++ applications, you will need the C/C++ Pack. Similarly, if you want to develop mobile Java applications, you will need the Java Mobility pack.
Notable Features
- Drag-and-drop-based UI development
- ANT for builds supports
- Integrated version control
- Integrated debugging support
- Enables sharing between developers over the network
- Advanced code refactoring
- Pluggable Profiler
- Built-in XML Editor and XML development tools
- Allows for C/C++ development
- Mobile application development
- BPEL development tools
- Enables UML modeling
- Portal development environment
- Rich client development
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