Netbeans had been my favorite IDE for quite a while. Besides the fact that it has all the features a modern IDE has to have, it has easy-to-use GUI tools for Java programming. Java has been my favorite programming language for several years now. I not only use Java for scientific algorithm development, also for many GUI tools. Netbeans fits the bill perfectly.
Netbeans generates Java codes with a developer's drag and drop. The results are most time usable but not precise. The generated codes are locked, i.e., not editable. Fine tuning the GUI layout is nearly impossible. Recently, I needed to arrange the GUI layout of a Java project precisely, and Netbeans' GUI tool was just not satisfying enough. I went on searching and came across with WindowBuilder.
WindowBuilder is a Eclipse plugin for Java GUI programming. Like Netbeans, it let a developer drag and drop. Like Netbeans, after the Java code is generated after dragging and dropping, a developer can edit the code and WindowBuilder can read back the manually edited code and new GUI can be displayed under design mode. However, WindowBuilder does the job better than Netbeans does. The cycle goes on. This is simply amazing. I still like Netbeans and use it from time to time. But most of time I use Eclpise. Of course, I spend a lot of time developing for Android and Eclipse is practically the only IDE for it.
Showing posts with label Netbeans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Netbeans. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
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.
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.
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