Review: NetBeans 5.0

The new version of the open source Java IDE adds new UI layout capabilities, and vastly improves its Web Services handling. We take a look at the changes.

Until it reached version 4.0, NetBeans struggled with a reputation for being a promising IDE which, just as soon as the developers filled out the features to match other IDEs, got the performance up and fixed the bugs, would be really interesting. Then 4.0 arrived and, for the first time, it looked like the developers had a handle on all those issues and were promising to do better in the future. Well, the future is here; NetBeans 5.0, and a lot of promises have been delivered.

Matisse, the new GUI designer is the most visible new feature. Using a new layout widget it makes Swing interfaces a lot easier to build and, more importantly, look good. The GroupLayout layout is freely redistributable, and in combination with the Matisse builder, gives a guideline-prompted layout which handles a lot more of the common form layout issues, like injecting a missing row in a table or making sure textfields and labels are aligned and, more importantly, stay aligned. Initially we took a little bit of convincing that Matisse's code generation was manageable, but with code folding in the NetBeans editor and the ability to switch at any time between source code and design it becomes a pleasure to prototype with, without feeling like you are giving up control of your GUI management. Matisse itself doesn't lock you into the NaturalLayout; you can carry on using any layout you like; you just lose the organic placement. If you want to get a feel for the builder check out this flash demo on the NetBeans site.

The NetBeans code editor has gone through a lot of small changes; most importantly the code completion and on-the-fly checking features are finally fast enough. The addition of a error/to-do indicator bar next to the scrollbar gives fast feedback on the state of source code and better auto-completion including Camel-case completion (so NFE for example would autocomplete to NumberFormatException), XML tag completion and drag and drop "snippets" for creating HTML or XML documents all make for a much more productive editor. The editor also supports GUI form views of XML files, for example for web.xml you can view the XML or use five form views for editing the file.

NetBeans' Web support for clients and servers is much improved. Take consuming a Web service in a client application; you can add a Web service client to a project by simply pointing NetBeans at a WSDL file and telling it which package name to use for generated classes. You can test the service by just selecting it in the Web Service References, and to use it in your code, just select "Web Service Client Resources" and "Call Web Service Operation", and of course select the service. All the code is generated for you, the appropriate libraries added, a WSDL compiler is added to your build targets and you are good to go. You can be up and querying the Google API in minutes. The only flaw; the autocompletion and error markup goes out of sync (as it's working with generated classes rather than source code) but despite that it is still a real time-saver.

Click here to see NetBeans 5.0's flexible views, including the Mattise UI Builder.

At the other end of the wire, Web application developers are well catered for too; applications servers now plug-in simply, and you can manage different app-servers on the same system. The "Runtime" view in NetBeans shows you which servers are running, along with which databases and other runtime resources, without you having to reach for the command line. NetBeans also knows about frameworks like Struts and JSF at project level; when you create a new web application, you can select a framework and NetBeans puts in place the basic code, libraries and XML needed to kick start a project.

Under the covers, the build system for NetBeans is built around Ant, with a rich build.xmlfile being created, suitable for using for builds outside of NetBeans. Other IDE's have Ant support, but NetBeans has made it the core of the project build making it more amenable to automated test builds.

Click here for another view of navigating through XML in NetBeans 5.0.

The new version control integration for CVS is a replacement for the previous "generic" version control system in NetBeans. It ties tightly into the IDE, complete with project view icons showing, at a glance, differences from the repository. The only drawback is that it's only for CVS; other version control systems are supported through the older generic VCS, which works but isn't as slick.

One improvement many won't see is the improved Mac OS X support, with NetBeans feeling much more at home with Mac single-menu-bar, better rendering and a general feel of OS X being a first class platform for NetBeans, alongside Windows, Solaris and Linux.

NetBeans doesn't miss out the little guys either; J2ME support is provided through a Mobility pack supported on Windows and Linux, (though it can be set up on OS X with a little bit of work), complete with J2ME emulator.

NetBeans 5.0 is focused on developing Java solutions, rather than being a platform for IDE components, though it does support a growing range of plug-ins and it makes it simple to develop plug-ins from within the IDE itself. It all makes for a well rounded Java development environment with a much more complete out-of-the-box experience.