#About mynetbeans

A repository of my experiments with NetBeans. Some of these experiments might result in NetBeans plugins.

I have been using NetBeans since early on first via Forte for Java. I loved that very much compared to IBM Visual Age and Symantec Visual Cafe. Yes! Since that young. Later when Sun decided to wreck Forte For Java, I moved full time to NetBeans (was verion 5 I think).

Over the years, I resisted popular opinion and organizational pressures to move away from NetBeans so much so that I am always in the NetBeans users minority of 1. Over so many years some of the things that helped me retain my love for the NetBeans IDE are

1. Simplicity - install and ready to use.
2. Project type coverage - Any type of project was easy to start off - be it a library or a web application or a Swing UI.
3. Evolution of NetBeans did not mean a balky eco-system.
4. I was not into Maven or Gradle until a couple of years ago and the transition from good ol' ant build system was smooth.
5. Newer Java ecosystem paradigms like JPA, REST/Jersey/Wicket was adapted to seamlessly, Lambda, Generics

Coming to Today, some of my favorite NetBeans features are

1. The Terminal window. It has it's hiccups but none which are show stoppers. I don't have to leave my beloved even for a second to do something in a terminal. I can now do it all within the IDE
2. HTML5 support - The Google connector is a boon. The bi-directional code changes trim down my effort in devloping HTML5 pages. I have quite a few NB converts because of this one feature.
3. Coding REST API - Now this is one feature I use fairly regularly and the speed with which my REST API is coded, tested and improved is helping me migrate people to NetBeans
4. Module development - The first plugin I wrote, the now defunct export as archive was developed in two days by just following the project and New file wizards and Geertjan's blog
5. NetCat program - The real giveback from me to NetBeans was to enroll in the NetCat program.
   1. I learnt a few things about the IDE,
   2. Learnt some new Java Cool features (Lambda for example)
   3. Got to know some people with infectious enthusiasm