Downloading and Installing NetBeans IDE

These instructions describe how to download and install NetBeans, a commonly used IDE for Java programming. Using an IDE means that you have all of the tools you need in one place (your "development environment") instead of having to organize things manually. Use the instructions in Step 2 to write a simple Java program called "Hello.java" and then compile and run it.

6. NetBeans - Tips & Tricks: Java Application Development

  1. Choosing the JDK version for your program: Right-click on your project ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Source" node ⇒ You can select the JDK level of your project in pull-donw menu "Source/Binary Format".
  2. Enabling JDK 7 support: If JDK 7 is already installed in your system, right-click on your Project ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Source" node ⇒ "Source/Binary Format" ⇒ Select "JDK 7". Also check "Libraries" ⇒ Java Platform ⇒ JDK 7.
    If JDK 7 is not installed/configured, install JDK 7. Add JDK 7 support to NetBeans via "Tool" menu ⇒ "Java Platforms" ⇒ "Add Platform...".
  3. Choosing Default Charset: Right-click on your project ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Source" node ⇒ "Encoding" ⇒ choose your desired charset for the text-file I/O from the pull-down menu.
  4. Enabling Unicode Support for File Encoding: Right-click on your project ⇒ "Properties" ⇒ "Source" node ⇒ "Encoding" ⇒ choose your Unicode encoding (e.g., UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-16LE, UTF-16GE) for the text-file I/O.
  5. To include Javadoc/Source: Use "Library Manager" (select the "Tools" menu ⇒ "Libraries"); or "Java Platform Manager" (select "Tools" menu ⇒ "Java Platforms")
  6. Adding External JAR files & Native Libraries (".dll", ".lib", ".a", ".so"): Many external Java packages (such as JOGL, Java3D, JAMA, etc) are available to extend the functions of JDK. These packages typically provide a "lib " directory containing JAR files (".jar") (Java Archive - a single-file package of Java classes) and native libraries (".dll ", ".lib" for windows, ".a", ".so" for Linux and Mac).
    To include an external JAR file (".jar ") into a project: Expand the project node ⇒ Right-click on "Libraries" ⇒ "Add JAR/Folder..." ⇒ Select the desired JAR file or the folder containing the classes.
    If the external package contains many JAR files, you could create a user library to contain all the JAR files, and add the library to all the projects that required these JAR files. From "Tools" menu ⇒ "Libraries" ⇒ "New Library..." ⇒ Enter a library name ⇒ Use "Add JAR/Folder..." to add JAR files into this library.
    Many JAR files come with native libraries in the form of ".dll", ".lib " (for Windows) and ".a", ".so " for Linux/Mac. The directory path of these libraries must be included in JRE's property "java.library.path ". This can be done via right-click the project ⇒ Set Configuration ⇒ Customize... ⇒ Run ⇒ In "VM options", enter "-Djava.library.path=xxx ", where xxx is path of the native libraries.
    Notes:  The JAR files must be included in the CLASSPATH. The native library directories must be included in JRE's property "java.library.path ", which normally but not necessarily includes all the paths from the PATH environment variable. Read " External JAR files and Native Libraries".