Java IDE: Netbeans or Eclipse?

I started my Java programming using Netbeans about five years ago, and it has been my favorite IDE ever since.  Netbeans is always compared with Eclipse.  Both IDEs has their loyal followings.  I like Eclipse, too.  As a matter of fact, I started using Eclipse about 10 years ago, when I was programming with Python.

When Nokia released Symbian SDK, programming for smart phone become possible.  With it, come many possibilities.  I started developing applications for Nokia 6681, and later N81, N95.  The only practical IDE was Eclipse.  For our applications, processing speed was, and still is, critical.  So, we always using C++.  Unfortunately, Nokia's version of Eclipse/SDK left a lot to be desired, and developing for Symbian was a painful process.

Then came Android, for which Eclipse has been the only practical IDE.  This time, coding was much more pleasant.  To have simple application with live video working, you only need one file, two classes, and under 100 lines of code together.  For extra speed, you can put CPU intensive code in C++.  Everything is just perfect.  But for algorithm development, with happens on desktop/laptop, I still prefer Netbeans.

Netbeans comes with palette, with makes simple GUI programming a breeze.  You can simply drag/drop panels, menus, buttons, and so on.  You can build an events-driven application with GUI very quickly.  I have been very happy with it for many years, until a couple of weeks ago, when I need to make the application I have been developing more professionally looking.

Netbeans' drag and drop GUI programming, while easy, is always awkward to use.  The layout is always difficult to get precise.  The end result is always amateur looking.  I do mind at all when I was only concerned with algorithm development.  This time, the application I am developing is going to be used by many low-vision doctors and other professionals in the low vision field.  All of a sudden, the appearance become very important.

I was searching for a better tool for Java GUI programming and finally came across WindowBuilder plugin for Eclipse, donated by Google.  After working with it for a couple of days, I am hooked.  Like Netbeans, you drag/drop GUI components, unlike Netbeans, you can manually edit the generated code, and the new edits will be picked up by WindowBuilder.  So the it a two-way tools.  The generated GUI code by Netbeans cannot be edited.  After many trials, I got the exact layout I want for my application.