Your Guide to Getting Work Done in NetBeans IDE

Welcome to the Using NetBeans IDE 5.5 guide. This guide is designed to give you a more detailed introduction to the IDE than is available in the Quick Start guide by exploring the main aspects of the IDE. This guide is geared mostly to newcomers to NetBeans IDE 5.5, whether you are new to using IDEs or an experienced IDE user that is switching over from a different development environment. However, readers of this guide are assumed to have at least a basic understanding of the Java programming language and related technologies.

Setting Up Projects

• Basic IDE Concepts
• Projects
• Ant
• Creating a Project
• Setting the Main Project
• Importing Projects
• Setting the Target JDK in a Project
• Managing a Project's Classpath
• Managing Dependencies Between Projects
• Setting up Free-form Projects
• Editing and Running Ant Scripts
• Managing the Classpath in Free-form Projects
• Specifying the Classpath for Project Sources
• Specifying the Classpath for Custom Tasks

Creating and Editing Files

• Creating Java Files
• Using File Templates
• Using GUI Templates
• Editing Java Files in the Source Editor
• Code Completion
• Code Templates
• Special Code Template Syntax
• Editor Hints
• Refactoring
• Working With Import Statements
• Formatting Java Source Code
• Navigating in the Source Editor
• Navigating Within a Java File
• Search and Selection Tools
• Navigating Between Documents
• Configuring the Editor

Building Applications

• Using Ant Build Scripts
• Building Projects, Packages, and Files
• Fixing Compilation Errors
• Filtering Output Files
• Customizing the Build Process
• Build Files in Standard Projects
• Build Files in Free-form Projects
• Writing Custom Ant Tasks
• Mapping Custom Ant Targets to Project Commands

Running Applications

• Running Projects and Files
• Customizing Runtime Options
• Setting the Runtime Classpath
• Setting the Main Class and Runtime Arguments
• Setting JVM Arguments

Debugging Applications

• Basic Debugging
• Starting a Debugging Session
• Debugger Windows
• Stepping Through Your Code
• Working With Breakpoints
• Setting a Breakpoint
• Setting Conditions for a Breakpoint
• Customizing the Output for a Breakpoint
• Breakpoint Types
• Setting Watches

Connecting to Databases

• Setting Up Your Resources
• Bundled databases
• Other databases
• Connecting to Databases
• Adding Database Drivers
• Establishing a Database Connection
• Working with a Database Connection
• Setting Up a Database Connection Pool

Configuring the IDE

• Setting IDE Default Settings
• Configuring General Java Settings
• Working With File Types
• Configuring Ant Settings
• Enabling and Disabling IDE Functionality
• Disabling Modules
• Installing New Modules from the Update Center
• Boosting NetBeans Performance
• Configuring IDE Startup Switches
• Tuning JVM Switches for Performance

Quick Reference

• Window Navigation Shortcuts
• Project Tasks
• VCS Tasks
• Configuring Tasks
• Source Editor Tasks
• Source Editor Abbreviations for Java Files
• Source Editor Abbreviations for JSP and Servlet Files
• Source Editor Abbreviations for XML and DTD Files
• Special Code Template Syntax
• Build Tasks
• Running J2SE Application Tasks
• Running Web Application Tasks
• Debugging Tasks
• JUnit Tasks