Setting Up Your Java 8 IDE: An Introduction to NetBeans 8.0 - Beginning Java 8 Games Development - page 28

code much easier to read (for both yourself and the other members of your game ap-
plication development team).
In addition, NetBeans will provide matching code structure brackets , colons , and
semicolons so that you do not get lost when you are creating complex, deeply nested,
or exceptionally dense programming constructs. You will be creating constructs such as
these as I take you from Java 8 game beginner to Java 8 game developer, and I will
point out Java 8 code that is dense, complex, or deeply nested as you encounter it.
NetBeans can also provide bootstrap code, such as the JavaFX game application
bootstrap code that you will be creating a bit later in this chapter (see the section
“Creating Your Java 8 Project: The InvinciBagel”), as well as code templates (which
you can fill out and customize), coding tips and tricks, and code refactoring tools. As
your Java code becomes more complex, it also becomes a better candidate for code re-
factoring, which can make the code easier to understand, easier to upgrade, and more
efficient. NetBeans can also refactor your code automatically.
In case you are wondering, code refactoring is changing the structure of existing
computer code to make it more efficient or scalable without changing its external beha-
vior, that is, what it accomplishes. For instance, you could take Java 6 or Java 7 code
and make it more efficient by implementing Lambda Expressions, using Java 8.
Furthermore, NetBeans offers pop-up helper dialogs of various types, containing
methods , constants , asset references (see Chapter 3 ) , and even suggestions regarding
how to construct the code statement, for example, when it might be appropriate to use
the powerful new Java 8 Lambda Expressions feature to make your code more
streamlined and multithread compatible.
NetBeans 8.0 Is Extensible: Code Editing with Many
Languages
Another thing that your word processor cannot do is allow you to add features to it,
which NetBeans can do using its plug-in architecture. The term that describes this type
of architecture is extensible , which means that if needed, it can be extended to include
additional features. So, if you wanted to extend NetBeans 8.0 to allow you to program
using Python, for instance, you could. NetBeans 8.0 can also support older languages,
such as COBOL and BASIC, in this fashion as well, although with the majority of pop-
ular consumer electronics devices using Java, XML, JavaScript, and HTML5 these
days, I am not really sure why anyone would want to take the time do this. I did a
Google search for this, however, and there are people coding in Python and COBOL in
NetBeans 8.0, so there is real-world proof that the IDE is indeed extensible.