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Faster Enterprise Application Development with NetBeans 5.5

摘要: At the end of October, Sun introduced NetBeans 5.5, a new version of the open-source Java IDE. NetBeans 5.5 brings full support of the Java EE 5 standard, which significantly simplifies development of web and enterprise applications. Three new packs are also available with NetBeans: Enterprise Pack, C/C++ Pack and Visual Web Pack. Let's look at what new functionalities are now available in the IDE and in the packs.
By Roman Strobl

At the end of October, Sun introduced NetBeans 5.5, a new version of the open-source Java IDE. NetBeans 5.5 brings full support of the Java EE 5 standard, which significantly simplifies development of web and enterprise applications. Three new packs are also available with NetBeans: Enterprise Pack, C/C++ Pack and Visual Web Pack. Let's look at what new functionalities are now available in the IDE and in the packs.


Illustration 1: BPEL design using NetBeans 5.5 and Enterprise pack


Java EE 5 standard is a long-awaited standard that resolves problems from the previous versions of J2EE. Although J2EE 1.3 and 1.4 provided a rich set of libraries and tools for enterprise application development, many developers complained that the standards were cumbersome; they were forced to write additional code which they did not always need. Thus, new frameworks have been created in the open-source community (for example, Spring and Hibernate) and since these frameworks solve many of J2EE's problems people have started to use them. Java EE 5 is based on the experiences acquired during the creation of these frameworks and the main goal of this version is to simplify development and minimize the amount of written code. In my opinion, this goal was achieved – applications created using Java EE 5 contain simple POJOs (Plain Old Java Objects) and they use annotations instead of cumbersome XML code. The developer also writes less code because intelligent defaults have been introduced in many different places.

It appears that with these simplifications there is less functionality needed from an IDE simply because Java EE 5 applications are much easier to write. Despite all the improvements, an IDE can still save time and speed up coding. With NetBeans 5.5, you can use code completion for annotations, generate code using various actions and wizards, and use templates for all kinds of classes, persistence management, etc. NetBeans 5.5 is unique because it can generate a functional web application with a database back-end in several minutes (similar to the Ruby on Rails framework). NetBeans fully supports all the new standards which are contained in Java EE 5:


NetBeans supports application servers Glassfish (Sun), JBoss, Weblogic, Websphere and Tomcat. Other application servers are supported using plug-ins which are created by the community. Not all application servers support Java EE 5 at the moment; expectedly, NetBeans lets you write applications using the older versions of the J2EE standard.

Although Java EE 5 support was the main theme of version 5.5, other new features are available as well. Many developers consider NetBeans to be one of the best IDEs for Swing development. The GUI builder in NetBeans has been enriched by many new features, with the support for GUI internationalization probably standing out as the most important improvement. You can get the new GUI builder features from the NetBeans update center.


Illustration 2: NetBeans GUI builder, also known as project Matisse


NetBeans 5.5 now also supports the Subversion versioning system, whose popularity in the open-source community is constantly growing. NetBeans 5.5 also contains improvements in the module development area – new templates, new sample application, better library management and few other improvements.

The web face of NetBeans has also changed with NetBeans 5.5. The netbeans.org website, where you can find an extensive database of articles about using NetBeans and also join the growing online community of NetBeans users, now sports a more modern look and straight-forward navigation to information about the various add-on packs:


Mobility pack now also supports the CDC standard (Connected Device Configuration), which allows the creation of Swing applications for mobile devices. Although this standard is very new, you can run applications with a rich Swing GUI on some of the mobile phones. Application development using the CDC standard is closer to the Java SE development, so it is easier to grasp for many developers who don't yet have experience with Java ME.


Illustration 3: Visual designer in NetBeans 5.5 Mobility Pack


Probably the most innovative feature of the Mobility Pack for NetBeans 5.5 is SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) support. Many mobile applications suffer from the device fragmentation problem. Thanks to SVG, it is possible to create applications that look good regardless of the size of the display. It is also possible to create animation and increase interactivity of mobile applications.

Mobility Pack contains support of the JMUnit framework in version 5.5, as well. It serves for mobile application testing. Java is used successfully on mobile devices; today, more than a billion mobile phones support Java and Java is also present in cars, PDAs, video recorders and in many other devices.

Visual Web Pack is a new add-on pack, which lets you create web applications using drag & drop, a functionality from the Java Studio Creator 2 IDE. When many developers asked for a single IDE for web application development, Sun responded by creating Visual Web Pack for NetBeans, which incorporates functionality from Java Studio Creator in NetBeans. Compared to Java Studio Creator, Visual Web Pack is enriched by Java EE 5 support and you can deploy to many application servers including Tomcat. It is also possible to take advantage of all the new features introduced in NetBeans 5.x, including many editor improvements or support for additional versioning systems.


Illustration 4: Visual Web Pack – Web application development can be easy


Visual Web Pack can be used to map database data to JSF components visually. It is very easy to display data from an enterprise database using a JSF table component. You can simply drag & drop the table to the component and the IDE analyzes the table metadata and does the data-binding. You can, of course, change the SQL query visually and perform database joins using additional tables and foreign keys. Visual Web Pack also contains an advanced CSS editor and lets you use rich AJAX components. Many JSF components come bundled with Visual Web Pack and can be used in your web applications. Visual Web Pack is free and can be downloaded without the need to register, similar to the NetBeans IDE and the other add-on packs.

Enterprise Pack is a new add-on pack which allows you to create SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) applications. It is possible to create a business process in the BPEL language and visual tools are available to define such a process. The pack also contains visual editors for WSDL files and XML schemas. A JBI engine comes bundled with the Enterprise Pack, so you get all the tools required for SOA application development.

NetBeans Profiler has been available since version 4.1 and it provides rich functionality for both CPU and memory profiling. In version 5.5, the Profiler was enriched with support of Java EE profiling and you can also profile applications running on 64-bit architectures and on Intel Macs. Unlike some of the other profilers, you can define exactly which parts of the application should be instrumented, thus there is minimal performance overhead during profiling.


Illustration 5: NetBeans Profiler – CPU profiling


The last add-on pack for NetBeans is the C/C++ pack, which enables writing of native applications in NetBeans. Unlike Sun Studio, another IDE from Sun, you can use the C/C++ pack even on the Windows platform. Many people consider NetBeans a great Java IDE, but nowadays you can use NetBeans for additional languages, too. There are plans to add support for additional scripting languages in the next version of the IDE.

You have probably noticed that NetBeans 5.5 offers many features that are not available in similar development tools or that are only available in expensive commercial products. NetBeans 5.5 raises the bar for all Java IDEs by supporting the latest standards with all features available in one integrated tool and at a price that anyone can afford – free. It is not surprising that the NetBeans community has experienced rapid growth over the last two years and continues to attract new members. If you want to join the NetBeans community, visit netbeans.org, download NetBeans and join the discussions on NetBeans mailing lists.

(This article originally appeared in the Czech Sun News.)

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