Hello, this is a blog of the team that works on the client-side web technologies support in the NetBeans IDE.
NetBeans has always been an IDE for web developers. However, the predominant focus so far was on server-side technologies such as Java EE, PHP or Grails. The upcoming NetBeans IDE 7.3 release adds focus on client side web technologies, i.e. on developing applications that utilize the HTML5 family of technologies.
NetBeans 7.3, which is currently available as a Beta 2 release, and will reach the final release in Q1 2013, contains numerous new features for client-side web development, collectively referred to as Project Easel. This includes:
- HTML5 Application project with JavaScript testing support
- JavaScript Editor was improved significantly
- Page inspector and visual CSS style editor
- JavaScript Debugger
- Deep integration with Chrome
- Embedded WebKit browser
- and more...
To explore these features, watch the screencast - part 1 and part 2. Or, download the Beta 2 release of NetBeans 7.3 and give it a try. To get more involved, you can also post on our forums, subscribe to the mailing list or file bug reports - see Project Easel wiki for more details on how to participate.
However, it does not all end with NetBeans 7.3 - we already have lots of plans and improvements in the works for future releases of NetBeans. Going forward, information about new features, improvements, highlights, tips, HOWTOs, future plans and more, will be published on this blog.