Java Reference
In-Depth Information
• Version control (e.g., CVS, see also Chapter 8)
• One or more Web servers (e.g., Tomcat)
• A build control mechanism (e.g., ant , see also Chapter 9)
• Other editors besides the built-in editor
• A specialized editor for building GUIs
• Other languages besides Java
10.1
W HAT Y OU W ILL L EARN
In this chapter we will examine two major Open Source IDEs, NetBeans and
Eclipse. We will show a straightforward installation of each. We will describe
the “operating paradigm” of each and show a few major features. It should be
enough to get you started using them.
There are several major commercial IDEs, including Idea by IntelliJ,
JBuilder from Borland, WebSphere Studio from IBM, SunONE Studio (Enter-
prise Edition) from Sun, and others. Because they are commercial, and not
Open Source, we will not be covering them; their vendors and other experts
can provide the documentation and training you need. Be advised, however,
that the licenses for such commercial products typically cost anywhere from
several hundred to a few thousand dollars per seat. That can make Open Source
IDEs look very attractive.
10.2
N ET B EANS :T HE O PEN S OURCE IDE
NetBeans is an Open Source IDE, freely available, with full source code. It is
also the basis for the SunONE Studio (more on that product later).
10.2.1
NetBeans (originally called Xelfi) began in 1996 as a student project in the
Czech Republic, with the goal being to write a Delphi-like Java IDE in Java.
A company called NetBeans was formed around this project. By May of 1999,
after two commercial releases of Developer, the company released a beta of what
A Brief History of NetBeans 1
1. From the netbeans.org Web site.
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