Okay, this is why I love OPEN SOURCE!

So, I just blogged about NetBeans being my favorite IDE out of the two that I have used for Java coding, and then I found out that the whole ball game is about to change! According to regular NB contributor, Roman Stroble [ article ] , NetBeans 7.0 will be released in 2009 as a complete rewrite using JavaScript and distributed wholly on the web through your browser. Going the way of Google, i.e. providing every application you could ever need via web services, NetBeans will be a full featured on-line IDE hosted by Sun Microsystems and supported by additional ad space in the IDE.

Whoops! Are there really going to be Google Ads running in my IDE? This is a move that may turn some folks who were considering NB for J2EE development over to the Eclipse side.

I guess it is inevitable, that more and more high level applications will be running through the browser, but I cannot help but wonder if we will be forced to endure increased lag time in trade for ultimate portability? Since this Web 2.0 push has every application developer looking towards browser deployment, does this mean that someday soon I will be able to have my regular colonoscopy performed while sitting at home as long as I have JavaScript enabled in my browser? Okay, I know, NOBODY needed that mental image, but since this whole post is based on an April Fools Day prank that got a lot of nerds' undies in a bunch, I figured I would dream a little dream...

Back to the Beans

As I continue to learn and develop my programming skills, I have found that I really prefer the NetBeans IDE [ www.NetBeans.org ] over the Eclipse IDE [ www.eclipse.org ]. When I first started using an IDE for my Java code (about two years ago) , I found NetBeans to be very user friendly. One of the main reasons for this perceived ease of use was the frequent distribution of "how-to" videos, blogs, articles, etc. by members of the NetBeans developer community.

The weekly NetBeans newsletter provides continuous updates and introductory instructions for the newest or often overlooked features of the IDE. While Eclipse is the "industry standard" IDE for Java development, Netbeans is gaining ground and now allows users to import Eclipse projects.
More later...