What's New in This Guide

For NetBeans IDE 7.4 the Developing Applications with NetBeans IDE User's Guide replaces the non-context sensitive online help that was available in previous releases of NetBeans IDE.

New and Changed Features for Release 7.4

The following topics introduce the new and changed features of NetBeans IDE and other significant changes that are described in this guide, and provides pointers to additional information.

• Developing C/C++ and Fortran Applications

  • This document does not contain specific information about using the IDE for developing applications in C, C++, and Fortran. For information about developing applications in C, C++, and Fortran, see the “C/C++ Fortran Development" section in the IDE's integrated help viewer and search the help for C/C++ topics.

  • An additional source for information about developing applications in C, C++, and Fortran is the C/C++ Learning Trail on the netbeans.org site.

    https://netbeans.org/kb/trails/cnd.html

• The Notifications window displays a record of all notifications that occurred in the current IDE session, such as notifications about changes in the status of various IDE processes and available IDE updates. See Section 2.16, "Viewing IDE Notifications."

• Issues that are recorded in an issue tracking system are now referred to as tasks. You can register an issue tracker as a task repository in the Services window and view and organize tasks in the Tasks window. See Section 4.2, "Working with Tasks."

• Standard Java SE projects can be converted to the JavaFX deployment model by modifying the project's properties. You can now add a JavaFX class to a Java SE project without manually adding a JavaFX runtime dependency. See Section 5.2.1.3, "Switching a Java SE Project to a JavaFX Deployment Model" and Section 5.2.1.4, "Adding a JavaFX Class to a Java SE Project."

• NetBeans IDE supports native packaging for standard Java SE and JavaFX projects. A native package is a wrapper for your project that converts the project into a self-contained, platform-specific installation package. See Section 7.8, "Packaging an Application as a Native Installer."

• HTML5 Development

  • Support for packaging an HTML5 application as a native mobile application using the Cordova platform and deploying to an iOS or Android mobile devices. See Section 19.3.1, "How to Create HTML5 Applications for Mobile Platforms."

  • Support for HTML5 development features in Java Web applications and in PHP applications. See Section 19.3.2, "How to Add Support for HTML5 Features to an Application."

  • Support for running applications in browsers on mobile devices. See Section 19.4.1, "How to Specify the Browser."

  • Browser DOM window enables you to inspect the DOM tree of the current page. See Section 19.6, "Inspecting HTML5 Code with the Browser."

  • Support for using Sass and LESS CSS preprocessor files. See Section 19.9.4, "Creating a CSS Preprocessor File" and Section 19.9.5, "How to Generate CSS Files Using a CSS Preprocessor."

  • Improved JavaScript debugging. See Section 19.10.3, "How to Debug a JavaScript File."

  • The Network Monitor can help you analyze failed network requests and REST-related and WebSocket communication between the browser and the server.