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NetBeans IDE 7.1 Features

All Features and Supported Technologies

The NetBeans IDE is a free, open-source Integrated Development Environment for software developers. You get all the tools you need to create professional desktop, enterprise, web and mobile applications, in Java, C/C++ and a variety of dynamic languages. The IDE runs on many platforms including Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS; it is easy to install and use straight out of the box.

Base IDE

General IDE features

  • Non-proprietary Apache Ant 1.8 build scripts
  • Projects, Files, Services, and Favorites views
  • Fully configurable user interface (fonts, colors, toolbars, views)
  • Code formatting settings customizable per project
  • Exporting and importing of NetBeans options
  • All views can be positioned, maximized/minimized, split, cloned and (un)docked
  • Navigator with members and hierarchy inspectors
  • Open As... action for associating file extensions with MIME-types
  • Project grouping
  • Included templates and sample applications
  • Go to File, Go to Type, Go to Symbol, Go to Declaration actions
  • Head-less build support
  • Task List integration (iCalendar format): Automatic scanning for errors, warnings, TODO/FIXME tasks, and bug database integration
  • Sharable projects (relative library paths, name variable paths), support for MS Windows UNC paths.
  • Eclipse project and JBuilder project importer, Eclipse project synchronization
  • Quick Search bar: Quick access to files/types/symbols, projects, option panels, menu actions, and documentation
IDE Features Page

Source Code Editor

  • Full editor support for Java, XML, DTD, CSS, HTML, ERB, RHTML, JSP, Javadoc, JavaScript, PHP, Groovy, C and C++, and more.
  • Smart Code Completion including CamelCase abbreviations
  • Syntactic and semantic code highlighting, word and bracket matching
  • Mark occurences, errors and warnings; hints, quick fixes
  • Automatic compile on save, and deploy on save (for Java projects)
  • Automatic code generation (accessors, surround-with, and more...)
  • Source Code folding
  • Customizable code formatting and identation
  • Refactoring actions:
    • Rename
    • Introduce Variable, Constant, Field, or Method
    • Change Method Parameters
    • Encapsulate Fields (getters and setters)
    • Pull Up, Push Down
    • Move Class, Copy Class
    • Move Inner to Outer Level
    • Convert Anonymous Class to Inner
    • Extract Interface, Extract Superclass
    • Use Supertype Where Possible
    • Safely Delete
  • Local History for non-version-controlled files
  • Documentation pop-up windows including Javadoc and rdoc
  • Editor can be extended to support any language (Project Schlieman)
  • An action to Remove Trailing Whitespace from lines

Editor Features Page

Version Control

  • Support for CVS 1.11.x and 1.12.x; Subversion 1.4.x, 1.5.x, 1.6.x; and Mercurial 1.x, 2.x; ClearCase V7.0 (available from the Plugin Manager).
    • Subversion authentication protocols: file, http, https, svn, svn+ssh
    • CVS authentication protocols: pserver, ext, local, fork.
  • Git support
  • Automatic recognition of existing version-controlled directories
  • Versioning window shows new, removed, or modified files
  • Color-coded status of lines, files and folders: New, removed, up-to-date, or modified
  • Color-coded Diff Viewer for intuitive merge conflict resolution
  • Export Diff Patch action
  • Sharable project metadata

Version Control Features Page

Connected Developer (Project Kenai Team Server)

  • Create, host and manage NetBeans projects on a Team Server, through the IDE interface
  • Versioning integration: Check out and commit to Kenai-hosted projects
  • Versioning integration: Change issue status in same step as commiting the fix
  • Issue tracker integration for Jira and BugZilla: Queries, create/close, apply patches, assign tasks
  • Integrated issue tracker with editor navigation
  • Instant messenger chat client and member presence service

* The Jira plugin is available from the plugin manager (Tools > Plugins).

Team Collaboration Features Page

Hudson Integration

  • Hudson continuous build servers for Maven and (Ant-based) Java SE project types
  • Hudson project can be using Subversion or Mercurial
  • Browse hosted jobs, builds, workspaces, and artifacts
  • Failure notifications

Build Tools Features Page

Maven Integration

  • Open, build, run, test, debug, profile Apache Maven projects (2 and 3)
  • Support for Maven web applications, EJB and enterprise projects (J2EE 1.4, Java EE 5, Java EE 6), JAX-WS 2.2 Web Services
  • Bind custom Maven goals to IDE actions
  • Create projects from Maven Archetype templates
  • Maven Repository Browser
  • Maven Dependency Graph
  • Maven project configurations
  • Artifact Details Viewer
  • Compile on Save for Maven Java SE projects, Deploy on Save for Maven Web Applications

Build Tools Features Page

Desktop Applications (Java SE)

Java Development

  • Develop for JDK 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, JDK 5.0, JDK 6, JDK 7
  • Unit testing with JUnit 3 and 4
  • Library and Template Manager
  • Call Hierarchy window displays callers and callees of a method in a project
  • Javadoc Analyzer, Javadoc Auto Comment
  • Automatic Javadoc and source root detection in JARs and NetBeans Libraries
  • Java Beans support: Bean property generation, BeanInfo editor
  • Visual Swing GUI Builder (More...)
  • Integrated debugger (More...)
  • Integrated profiler (More...)

Java SE Features Page

Java Swing GUI Builder (formerly known as Matisse)

  • Visual Swing GUI designer for Free Design, null layout, or any Swing layout manager.
  • Extendable component palette with pre-installed Swing and AWT components
  • Visual menu designer
  • Component and Properties inspector
  • Support for Beans Binding technology (JSR 295)
  • Support for Swing Application Framework (JSR 296)
  • Support for GUI localization and accessibility
  • Easy access to properties of ComboBox, JTree, ButtonGroup, etc components
  • GUI Preview in Nimbus Looks&Feel (JDK 6 Update 10)
  • Configure the GUI Builder to generate either simple of fully qualified class names

Java Swing Features Page

Java Profiler

  • CPU Performance analysis and load generation tools
  • Memory analysis and memory leak detection
  • Threads profiling
  • Local and remote attachment
  • HeapWalker, including OQL support
  • Profiling Points
  • JMeter integration
  • Save snapshots (CSV, HTML and XML) and process them offline

Profiler Features Page

Java Debugger

  • Multi-language debugger
  • Configurable breakpoints
  • Options dialog for specifying Variable Formatters, Step Filters, and more
  • Multi-threaded debugging (default breakpoint only suspends breakpoint thread)
  • Customizable Debugging View displays threads, sessions, call stacks
  • Current Thread Chooser for switching threads, threads navigation directly accessible from editor gutter
  • Automatic deadlock detection among suspended threads
  • Watches window
  • Call Stack window
  • Local and remote debugging
  • Run into, step over, step into and step out actions
  • Expression evaluation

Debugger Features Page

JavaFX 2.0

  • Projects using FXML or pure Java
  • FXML editor
  • Add preloaders to projects, or create preloader project
  • Leverage JavaSE editor
  • Leverage JavaSE and Java GUI debugger, including visual debugger

JavaFX Features Page

Web Applications and Enterprise Applications (Java EE)

Web Applications

  • JavaServer Pages (JSP 2.1)
  • JavaServer Faces (JSF 2.0) framework
  • Apache Struts 1.3.8
  • Spring Web MVC 2.5
  • Hibernate 3.2.5 framework, HQL queries, Hibernate Reverse Engineering wizard
  • Ajax-enabled JSF components
  • Generate JSF CRUD application (Create-Read-Update-Delete) from JPA entity classes
  • Hyperlink navigation for JSF and JSP pages
  • Editor for deployment descriptors
  • JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL).
  • Editor supports HTML, XHTML, JavaScript, PHP, JSP, JSF, and CSS
  • Property values error checking in CSS code
  • HTTP monitor for web application debugging
  • Support for persistence units
  • Deploying Java applications and Applets via Java Web Start (JNLP) including external resources

Web Application Features Page

Databases

  • The NetBeans Database Explorer supports any relational database for which there is a JDBC driver: JavaDB (Derby) 10.4, MySQL 5.1.6, PostgreSQL 8.3; Oracle 10.2, Microsoft SQL Server 1.2, PointBase 5.2, jTDS 1.2.1, DataDirect Connect for JDBC 3.6, IBM Redistributable DB2, and more.
  • Visual Query Editor (Data Provider API)
  • Sakila plugin installs a sample MySQL database for use with tutorials
  • Integration of MySQL servers (start/stop)
  • Auto-detection of existing MySQL databases
  • Database Explorer to connect to, browse, create, or delete databases
  • Integration for external administration tools like phpMyAdmin
  • SQL Editor with code completion and query history. Edit, sort and filter results directly, view large data sets page by page.

Databases Features Page

Enterprise Applications (Java EE)

  • Java EE 6, Java EE 5, J2EE 1.4 standards, including Annotations
  • Java Persistence API (JPA 2.0 )
  • Contexts and Dependency Injection (CDI)
  • JavaServer Pages (JSP)
  • JavaServer Faces (JSF 2.0) Facelets
  • Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB 2.1, EJB 3, EJB 3.1)
  • EJBs in web applications
  • Java Servlet API
  • GlassFish Server Open Source Edition 3.0.1, Apache Tomcat 5.5 and 6.0.20, JBoss 5.0, WebLogic 11g (10.3.1.0), and others.

Java EE Features Page

Web Services

  • Support for JAX-WS 2.2, designer UI for JAX-WS services
  • Support for JAX-RS RESTful Web Services 1.1 (JSR 311)
  • Support for JAX-RPC Web Service standards 1.6 (JSR 101)
  • Web Service Customization editor
  • Secure identity management with the Sun Java System Access Manager
  • SOAP-based and RESTful Web Services
  • Create JSR-311-compliant RESTful web services from JPA entity classes and patterns, or from databases
  • Google Maps, StrikeIron, and Yahoo News Search RESTful web services
  • JBI Java Business Integration (JSR 208)
  • Java Architecture for XML Binding API (JAXB) wizard
  • Mobile Java ME Web services (JSR 172)
  • Interoperable Web services (JSR 109)
  • SoapUI integration for Web Service testing and monitoring
  • Support for SaaS (Software as a Service provided by among others, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and YouTube).

Web Services Features Page

Mobile and Embedded Applications (Java ME, Java Card)

  • Full support for
    • Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) 1.0, 2.0 and 2.1
    • Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) 1.0 and 1.1
    • Connected Device Configuration (CDC)
    • Bundled with Java ME SDK 3.0
    • Java Card
  • Apache Ant 1.8 build scripts
  • Visual Mobile GUI Designer with localization and data binding support
  • Mobile Screen Designer
  • Mobile Game Builder for the MIDP 2.0 Game API
  • Support for SVG graphics (JSR 226): SVG Composer with SVG UI components, SVG property editor
  • Component palette, custom component creation wizard
  • JMUnit 1.1.0 testing
  • MIDlet signing and certificate management
  • Integrated over-the-air (OTA) emulation
  • Push-registry emulation
  • WMA emulation features for SMS and CBS messages
  • Wireless Messaging and Multimedia APIs
  • Code obfuscation with ProGuard 4.2
  • Multiple project configurations
  • On-device testing and debugging
  • Mobile Java ME Web service (JSR 172)
  • SDK MpowerPlayer platform support for Mac OS (How to install)

Java ME Features Page

 

Groovy and Grails

  • Groovy 1.6.4-ready editor with syntax highlighting, navigator, code folding, occurrences highlighting, code completion, and more
  • Create Grails 1.3 projects, or open existing Grails applications (no import required, no meta-data is added)
  • Support for mixed Java SE/Groovy projects
  • Integrated Grails commands, Services window integration

Groovy Features Page

PHP

A Java Development Kit (JDK) is not required to run the PHP-only IDE; the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) suffices.

  • Support for PHP 5 projects including PHP 5.3 (namespaces, etc), 5.2, 5.1
  • PHP editor with syntactic and semantic code highlighting for mixed code (PHP/HTML/CSS/JavaScript), occurences and error highlighting
  • Code completion and dynamic help (also for PHPDoc tags and included elements), code generators, comment completion, php doc generation, abbreviations, code snippet palette
  • Support for php short tags and php HEREDOC strings, code folding, bracket matching, indentation
  • Integrated FTP and SFTP access for remotely hosted projects (upload, download, delete)
  • IDE recognizes default location of document root in different operating systems
  • Support for PHP include path (global for all projects, or one per project)
  • Run project/single file, debug project/single file, run script in command line
  • Wizard for creating new PHTML and PHP files
  • Navigator and hyperlinking (Go to Declaration, Go to Type, Go to the included/required file)
  • Rename Refactoring
  • Debugger supports breakpoint, local variables, watches and bubble watches (tooltip)
  • Remote and local debugging, debugging of scripts and web pages (xdebug)
  • Local path mapping for remote servers (for debugging, symlinks)
  • Support for multiple project configurations
  • PHPUnit integration and Selenium test cases (also for Maven and web projects)
  • Code Coverage report for PHP projects
  • Zend and Symfony framework support including executing commands.
  • Smarty template support
  • Find Usages action

PHP Features Page

JavaScript

  • Support JavaScript 1.7
  • XML object embedding with ECMAScript for XML (E4X)
  • JavaScript editor with syntax highlighting, code completion, pop-up documentation, and error checking.
  • The Editor recognizes JavaScript code in stand-alone JavaScript files as well as in HTML, RHTML, and JSP files.

JavaScript Features Page

C, C++, Fortran

  • Project types for C and C++ NetBeans Projects
  • The C/C++ plugin also supports Fortran files
  • Compiler-neutral: Compile C, C++, and Fortran files with the GNU Compiler (GCC), MinGW, or others.
  • Project templates, import of existing projects
  • Support for dynamic and static libraries
  • Virtual console
  • Editor with syntactic and semantic code highlighting, indentation, formatting.
  • Code assistance including code completion, refactoring, error highlighting, navigation for C/C++.
  • Classes Browser
  • Call Graph window (direct and reverse)
  • Memory Window
  • Macro expansion view
  • Customizable pre-processor definitions and compile-time options
  • Makefile wizard
  • Remote development (using tools on remote hosts, build and run from your client system)
  • GNU debugger (gdb) support
  • D-Light profiler (Observability) displays CPU, Thread and Memory usage
  • Qt toolkit support (GUI forms, resources, translations)
  • Support for standard Qt editing tools (Qt Designer, Qt Linguist)
  • Supported platforms: Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Solaris 10 Operating Systems

C and C++ Features Page

NetBeans Platform

  • Tools for rich-client application development
  • Runtime container for lifecycle management
  • Module system for pluggability
  • Advanced Swing components for data visualization

NetBeans Platform Features Page

OSGi

  • Develop OSGi bundles in Maven-based projects
  • Bundled Felix container, ability to register other containers such as Equinox
  • OSGi interoperability (developing and consuming OSGi bundles in Platform-based applications)
OSGi Support Features Page

Available from the Plugins Manager

Install these and more NetBeans Plugins using the Plugin Manager (Tools > Plugins > Available Plugins).
You can get additional third-party plugins on the Plugin Portal, where you can also contribute your own.

Stable Plugins

  • Jira bug tracker integration
  • NetBeans Platform API documentation
  • BlueJ project support
  • Java Card, Oberthur smart card Platform support
  • Scan on Demand Plugin (manually invoke source rescan)
  • Load Generator, JMeter
  • Subversion client (for Microsoft Windows)
  • Ant 1.8 documentation
  • Facelets 1.1.14 (JavaServer Faces 1.2)
  • Java Management Extensions (JMX) and JConsole
  • JBuilder project importer
  • Sakila sample database
  • jIndent plugin
  • Apache Ivy integration
  • Developer Collaboration plugin (for NetBeans IDE 6.5 and earlier only)

Beta Plugins

More plugins in beta and development stage are available from the beta and dev Update centers and from the Plugin Portal.

  • Selenium plugin for PHP / Ant / Maven projects
  • Clearcase version control
  • Copy and paste History: Plugin Portal
  • Web Preview plugin and Embedded Browser (Mozilla's XUL Runner)
  • Free-Form Projects - Extras
  • Code Coverage for Java SE and NetBeans NBM projects
  • Python, Jython
  • Ajax-based Echo2 web framework with Visual designer
  • WADL Designer (Web Application Description Language)
  • Axis web services framework

And many more...


Back to Features Overview Page

Back to NetBeans IDE 7.1 Release Notes