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New version of NetBeans IDE offers Java 7

Oracle claims NetBeans 7 is the first open source IDE to support the next-generation Java platform

By Joab Jackson, IDG News Service, 04/20/11

Developers will be able to test-drive the next-generation Java programming language by using the new version of Oracle's NetBeans IDE (integrated developer environment), released Wednesday.

"The main focus for this release has been providing support for the Java 7 standard edition," said Duncan Mills, senior director of product management for Oracle's application tools group. Mills claimed that NetBeans 7 is the first open source IDE to support the new Java (though JetBrains offers a beta of its IntelliJ IDE that also supports the draft specification).

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The IDE has also strengthened its ties with a number of other popular software development management tools such as Git, and offers greater integration with other Oracle products, like the Oracle database and the WebLogic application server.

Oracle acquired NetBeans as part of its 2010 purchase of Sun Microsystems. Oracle already had its own Java IDE, JDeveloper. Since then, the company has redirected JDeveloper development to be more of a tool for enterprises to build Oracle Fusion-based applications, while maintaining NetBeans as a tool for the larger community of Java developers who may or may not use other Oracle software.

"The role of NetBeans is to acknowledge there is a huge Java user community out there who have no other relationship with Oracle at all. We want to provide support for those people to help Java grow and be more popular," Mills said. "There has to be a degree of competition to help to keep driving the market forward."

Oracle estimates that NetBeans is downloaded about 550,000 times a month and has somewhere between 800,000 and 900,000 regular users.

With NetBeans 7, developers will get the chance to test out the new version of Java, formally named the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) version 7.

"Java 7 introduces a whole bunch of constructs that are specifically aimed at making the language more concise and providing a better developer experience," Mills said.

One example is a revamped "switch" statement, which can now evaluate strings, in addition to numerical values. In prior versions of the language, "If you wanted to compare string values, you had to construct a nested 'if..else' statement to do that, which was, frankly, ugly," Mills said.

The IDE will also come with a set of help tools that will suggest ways that a new Java 7 construct could improve a body of code.

While the Java 7 specification is not expected to be finalized until July, Oracle will supply patches and updates to NetBeans 7 to cover any changes until its final ratification, Mills said.

Beyond support of Java 7, NetBeans 7.0 features a number of other enhancements.

The company has expanded its set of tools for production development. NetBeans is now compatible with version 3.0 of the open source Maven build system, which is used to manage multiple software projects. NetBeans also supports the latest version of JUnit testing framework, 4.8.2. And, for the first time, NetBeans has been integrated with the Git version control software.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.