Net Beans

Hi Friends

Today I am going to talk about NetBeans. NetBeans refers to both a platform for the development of Java desktop applications, and an integrated development environment (IDE) developed using the NetBeans Platform. NetBeans IDE is open-source and free. It Runs on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Solaris.

In computing, an integrated development environment (IDE) is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, build automation tools, and (usually) a debugger.

The NetBeans Platform allows applications to be developed from a set of modular software components called modules. A module is a Java archive file that contains Java classes written to interact with the NetBeans Open APIs and a manifest file that identifies it as a module. Applications built on modules can be extended by adding new modules. Since modules can be developed independently, applications based on the NetBeans platform can be extended by third party developers.

NetBean Platform

The NetBeans Platform is a reusable framework for simplifying the development of other desktop applications. When an application based on the NetBeans Platform is run, the platform's Main class is executed. Available modules are located, placed in an in-memory registry, and the modules' startup tasks are executed. Generally, a module's code is loaded into memory only as it is needed.

The platform offers services common to desktop applications, allowing developers to focus on the logic specific to their application. Among the features of the platform are:

- User interface management (e.g. menus and toolbars)

- User settings management

- Storage management (saving and loading any kind of data)

- Window management

NetBeans IDE

The NetBeans IDE is an open-source integrated development environment written entirely in Java using the NetBeans Platform. NetBeans IDE supports development of all Java application types (J2SE, web, EJB and mobile applications).

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 etc. 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.

The latest stable version of NetBeans IDE is 6.1 and can be downloaded free from http://www.netbeans.org/.

NetBeans Scope

In Netbeans I would like to talk about scope which is the availability (or context) of an object and its intended life span in a web application. As long as a user stays on a page, the component values are remembered even when the page redisplays, such as when the user clicks a button that returns null. However, when the user leaves the page, the component values disappear.
To make values available to other pages, or to make values available to the same page, should the user return to it, you need to store the values. When you create a project from the IDE, the IDE creates three managed beans for storing values:

- RequestBean1

- SessionBean1

- ApplicationBean1

The following figure shows the Navigator window with the default managed beans.

A managed bean is a JavaBeans object that a JavaServer Faces web application instantiates and stores in either request scope, session scope, or application scope. The web application stores RequestBean1 in request scope, SessionBean1 in session scope, and ApplicationBean1 in application scope.

I will be talking about some of the more exciting features of NetBeans which makes it one of the most well accepted IDE for Application Development.

Happy Learning!!...

Cheers

Madhu S