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Features of the NetBeans (Rich Client) Platform

With the NetBeans Platform, developers get to concentrate on the important parts of an application - the business logic that makes that application unique. The result is a huge savings in time and effort. Some of the features of the platform are:

  • User interface management: Windows, menus, toolbars and other presentation components are provided by the Platform. Developers write actions and components that the system will manage - saving time, and producing cleaner, more bug-free code.

  • Data and presentation management: The NetBeans Platform contains a rich toolset for presentating data to the user and manipulating that data.

  • Setting management: Saving and restoring settings - even complex business objects - is safe, simple, transparent and often automatic

  • Graphical Editing: Creating drag and drop, graphical views of data is a snap with the graph library

  • The Editor: Available as an extension to the Platform, applications built on NetBeans can use the NetBeans Editor, a powerful and extensible toolset for building custom editors.

  • The Wizard framework: A toolset for easily building extensible, user-friendly Wizards to guide users through more complex tasks.

  • Storage management: An abstraction of file-based data access. "Files" in the NetBeans paradigm may be local files, or exist remotely, for example, on an FTP server, CVS repository, in an XML file or in a database. Where this data is stored is completely transparent to other modules that work with this data.

  • A huge selection of additional components: such as versioning support, specialized editors, specialized UI components, remote data access via FTP and other transports, and convenient ways to work with a variety of Java and internet technologies are available as plugins any application can use.

  • Internet-based update delivery: NetBeans-based applications can use Java Web Start technology to deliver custom sets of modules based on a user's role, for complex applications. And a Web Start enabled application is always up-to-date and combines the advantages of centralized management and deployment with the advantages of a rich client user experience. For non-WebStart applications, an optional component is the AutoUpdate module, which downloads updates or new functionality via the web.

Next steps

  • Download the NetBeans IDE, it included everything to get started with NetBeans platform development (the platform does not require an extra download).
  • All NetBeans IDE features