NetBeans is an
integrated development environment
An integrated development environment (IDE) is a Application software, software application that provides comprehensive facilities for software development. An IDE normally consists of at least a source-code editor, build automation tools, an ...
(IDE) for
Java
Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
. NetBeans allows applications to be developed from a set of modular
software component
A software component is a modular unit of software that encapsulates specific functionality. The desired characteristics of a component are reusability and maintainability.
Value
Components allow software development to assemble software ...
s called ''modules''. NetBeans runs on
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
,
macOS
macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...
,
Linux
Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...
and
Solaris. In addition to Java development, it has extensions for other languages like
PHP,
C,
C++,
HTML5
HTML5 (Hypertext Markup Language 5) is a markup language used for structuring and presenting hypertext documents on the World Wide Web. It was the fifth and final major HTML version that is now a retired World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommend ...
, and
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior.
Web browsers have ...
. Applications based on NetBeans, including the NetBeans IDE, can be extended by
third party developers.
History
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Define $dy = -3 # shift text to right side of bar
ImageSize = width:160 height:1000
PlotArea = width:50 height:980 left:50 bottom:10
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Define $start = 06/01/2003
Define $now = 01/31/2023
Period = from:$start till:$now
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:1 start:2004
PlotData=
bar:Leaders color:blue width:25 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
from:$start till:$now
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NetBeans began in 1996 as Xelfi (word play on ''
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...
''), a Java IDE student project under the guidance of the
Faculty of Engineering and Technology at
Charles University
Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...
in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. In 1997, Roman Staněk formed a company around the project and produced commercial versions of the NetBeans IDE until it was bought by
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
in 1999. Sun open-sourced the NetBeans IDE in June of the following year. Since then, the NetBeans community has continued to grow. In 2010, Sun (and thus NetBeans)
was acquired by
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...
. Under Oracle, NetBeans had to find some synergy with
JDeveloper
JDeveloper is a freeware IDE supplied by Oracle Corporation. It offers features for development in Java, XML, SQL and PL/SQL, HTML, JavaScript, BPEL and PHP. JDeveloper covers the full development lifecycle from design through coding, debug ...
, a freeware IDE that has historically been a product of the company, by 2012 both IDEs were rebuilt around a shared codebase - the NetBeans Platform. In September 2016, Oracle submitted a proposal to donate the NetBeans project to
The Apache Software Foundation, stating that it was "opening up the NetBeans governance model to give NetBeans constituents a greater voice in the project's direction and future success through the upcoming release of Java 9 and NetBeans 9 and beyond". The move was endorsed by Java creator
James Gosling
James Arthur Gosling (born 19 May 1955) is a Canadian computer scientist, best known as the founder and lead designer behind the Java (programming language), Java programming language.
Gosling was elected a member of the National Academy of E ...
.
The project entered the Apache Incubator in October 2016.
NetBeans IDE
NetBeans IDE is an
open-source integrated development environment. NetBeans IDE supports development of all Java application types (
Java SE (including
JavaFX),
Java ME
Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of porting, portable code for embedded system, embedded and mobile devices (micro-controllers, sensors, gateways, mobile phones, personal digita ...
,
web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
,
EJB and
mobile applications) out of the box. Among other features are an
Ant
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cre ...
-based project system,
Maven support,
refactorings,
version control
Version control (also known as revision control, source control, and source code management) is the software engineering practice of controlling, organizing, and tracking different versions in history of computer files; primarily source code t ...
(supporting
CVS,
Subversion
Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to sabotage the established social order and its structures of Power (philosophy), power, authority, tradition, h ...
,
Git,
Mercurial and
Clearcase).
Modularity
All the functions of the IDE are provided by modules. Each module provides a well-defined function, such as support for the
Java language, editing, or support for the
CVS versioning system, and SVN. NetBeans contains all the modules needed for Java development in a single download, allowing the user to start working immediately. Modules also allow NetBeans to be extended. New features, such as support for other programming languages, can be added by installing additional modules. For instance,
Sun Studio, Sun Java Studio Enterprise, and
Sun Java Studio Creator from
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
are all based on the NetBeans IDE.
License
NetBeans IDE is licensed under the
Apache License 2.0. Previously, from July 2006 through 2007, it was licensed under Sun's
Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL), a license based on the
Mozilla Public License
The Mozilla Public License (MPL) is a free and open-source weak copyleft license for most Mozilla Foundation software such as Firefox and Thunderbird. The MPL is developed and maintained by Mozilla, which seeks to balance the concerns of bo ...
(MPL). In October 2007, Sun announced that NetBeans would henceforth be offered under a
dual license of the CDDL and the
GPL version 2 licenses, with the
GPL linking exception for
GNU Classpath. Oracle has donated NetBeans Platform and IDE to the Apache Foundation where it underwent incubation and graduated as a top level project in April 2019.
Other products
In an October 2016 interview with Gabriela Motroc, Oracle Vice President Bill Pataky stated that Oracle has a number of products that depend on NetBeans.
[
* Oracle Developer Studio, a commercial C, C++, Fortran and Java development environment is 100% based on NetBeans][
* Oracle JDeveloper, an end-to-end development for Oracle's technology stack takes major subsystems from NetBeans][
* Oracle JavaScript Extension Toolkit, a modular, open source toolkit based on modern JavaScript, CSS3 and HTML5 design and development principles uses NetBeans as its preferred IDE]
Integrated modules
These modules are part of the NetBeans IDE:
NetBeans Profiler
The NetBeans Profiler is a tool for the monitoring of Java applications: It helps developers find memory leaks and optimize speed. Formerly downloaded separately, it is integrated into the core IDE since version 6.0.
The Profiler is based on a Sun Laboratories research project that was named JFluid. That research uncovered specific techniques that can be used to lower the overhead of profiling a Java application. One of those techniques is dynamic bytecode instrumentation, which is particularly useful for profiling large Java applications. Using dynamic bytecode instrumentation and additional algorithms, the NetBeans Profiler is able to obtain runtime information on applications that are too large or complex for other profilers. NetBeans also support Profiling Points that let developers profile precise points of execution and measure execution time.
GUI design tool
Formerly known as ''project Matisse'', the GUI design-tool enables developers to prototype and design Swing GUIs by dragging and positioning GUI components.
The GUI builder has built-in support for JSR 295 (Beans Binding technology), but the support for JSR 296 ( Swing Application Framework) was removed in 7.1.
NetBeans JavaScript editor
The NetBeans JavaScript editor provides extended support for JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior.
Web browsers have ...
, Ajax, and CSS.
JavaScript editor features comprise syntax highlighting, refactoring, code completion
Code completion is an autocompletion feature in many integrated development environments (IDEs) that speeds up the process of coding applications by fixing common mistakes and suggesting lines of code. This usually happens through popups while typ ...
for native objects and functions, generation of JavaScript class skeletons, generation of Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...
callbacks from a template; and automatic browser compatibility checks.
CSS editor features comprise code completion
Code completion is an autocompletion feature in many integrated development environments (IDEs) that speeds up the process of coding applications by fixing common mistakes and suggesting lines of code. This usually happens through popups while typ ...
for styles names, quick navigation through the navigator panel, displaying the CSS rule declaration in a List View and file structure in a Tree View, sorting the outline view by name, type or declaration order (List & Tree), creating rule declarations (Tree only), refactoring a part of a rule name (Tree only).
The NetBeans 7.4 and later uses the new Nashorn JavaScript engine developed by Oracle.
NetBeans IDE download bundles
Users can choose to download NetBeans IDE bundles tailored to specific development needs. Users can also download and install all other features at a later date directly through the NetBeans IDE.
NetBeans IDE Bundle for Web and Java EE
The NetBeans IDE Bundle for Web & Java EE provides complete tools for all the latest Java EE 6 standards, including the new Java EE 6 Web Profile, Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs), servlets, Java Persistence API, web services, and annotations.
NetBeans also supports the JSF 2.0 (Facelets), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Hibernate, Spring, and Struts frameworks, and the Java EE 5 and J2EE 1.4 platforms. It includes GlassFish
GlassFish is an open-source Jakarta EE platform application server project started by Sun Microsystems, then sponsored by Oracle Corporation, and now living at the Eclipse Foundation and supported by OmniFish, Fujitsu and Payara. The support ...
and Apache Tomcat.
Some of its features with Java EE include:
* Improved support for CDI, REST services and Java Persistence
* New support for Bean Validation
* Support for JSF component libraries, including bundled PrimeFaces library
* Improved editing for Expression Language in JSF, including code completion, refactoring and hints
NetBeans IDE Bundle for PHP
NetBeans supports PHP since version 5.6. The bundle for PHP includes:
* syntax highlighting, code completion, occurrence highlighting, error highlighting, CVS version control
* semantic analysis with highlighting of parameters and unused local variables
* PHP code debugging with xdebug
* PHP Unit testing with PHPUnit and Selenium
Selenium is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Se and atomic number 34. It has various physical appearances, including a brick-red powder, a vitreous black solid, and a grey metallic-looking form. It seldom occurs in this elem ...
* Code coverage
* Symfony framework support (since version 6.8)
* Zend Framework support (since version 6.9)
* Yii Framework support (since version 7.3)
* PHP 5.3 namespace and closure support (since version 6.8)
* Code Folding
Code or text folding, or less commonly holophrasting, is a feature of some graphical user interfaces that allows the user to selectively hide ("fold") or display ("unfold") parts of a document. This allows the user to manage large amounts of text ...
for Control Structures (since version 7.2 dev)
NetBeans IDE Complete Bundle
Oracle
An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination.
Descript ...
also releases a version of NetBeans that includes all of the features of the above bundles. This bundle includes:
* NetBeans Base IDE
* Java SE, JavaFX
* Web and Java EE
* Java ME
* C/C++
* PHP (Version 5.5 and later)
* asd
* Apache Groovy
* GlassFish
GlassFish is an open-source Jakarta EE platform application server project started by Sun Microsystems, then sponsored by Oracle Corporation, and now living at the Eclipse Foundation and supported by OmniFish, Fujitsu and Payara. The support ...
* Apache Tomcat
Official Ruby
Ruby is a pinkish-red-to-blood-red-colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapph ...
support was removed with the release of 7.0.
Localization
NetBeans IDE is translated into the following languages:
* Brazilian Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese (; ; also known as pt-BR) is the set of Variety (linguistics), varieties of Portuguese language native to Brazil. It is spoken by almost all of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil and widely across the Brazilian diaspora ...
(BR), as of 5.5
* Japanese (JP), as of 3.4
* Simplified Chinese
Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to:
Mathematics
Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...
(ZH-CN)
Community translations of the IDE are also available in the following languages:
See also
* Comparison of integrated development environments
The following tables list notable software packages that are nominal IDEs; standalone tools such as source-code editors and GUI builders are not included. These IDEs are listed in alphabetic order of the supported language.
ActionScript
A ...
* Eclipse IDE
* JetBrains IntelliJ
* Oracle JDeveloper
* Oracle Developer Studio
* Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc., often known as Sun for short, was an American technology company that existed from 1982 to 2010 which developed and sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services. Sun contributed sig ...
References
Further reading
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*
*
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*
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External links
*
*
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*