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I'm a bit freaked about what I just read. I did some research, as I want to start programming in Java, and I came to the conclusion that NetBeans is the best IDE for me because of its capable Swing GUI Designer and powerful reporting with Jasper Reports (iReport).

Yet Oracle (who will soon buy Sun) doesn't seem to care about NetBeans. As I will start building appz in Java no too long from now, I would like to know your opinion on the following matter:

Shall I continue using NetBeans in spite of the rumours that Oracle will discontinue it or shall I make another the IDE of choice?

PS: Basically NetBeans would be the choice but because of the current circumstances I'm doubting this decision.

Thank you

AlexRednic
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    I see only rumors here (like in http://weblogs.java.net/blog/2009/04/21/what-does-oracle-mean-netbeans). Do you have any links with facts? Personally, I don't think that Netbeans will be discontinued (1. JDeveloper sucks, so that would be a mistake 2. Sun needs an IDE to demonstrate Java EE). And even if an IDE is discontinued, just pick up another one. – Pascal Thivent Jan 14 '10 at 04:31
  • http://bit.ly/17WZ90 here. Not much information but enough to put in the seed of doubt. Oracle's answers on NetBeans are evasive at best. – AlexRednic Jan 14 '10 at 08:29

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Oracle have put a lot of time and money into their own product, JDeveloper. It has some pretty neat features. But it has never got much traction in the industry, because many Java developers don't like using proprietary software, even though Oracle make quite a big play over their commit to open standards.

Anyway, at the moment Oracle are still integrating a lot of their freshly acquired BEA WebLogic functionality into the JDeveloper suite. But I'm sure that once they have sealed the deal to buy Sun they will start to look at what they can take from NetBeans. Because whatever you may think about Larry Ellison's business methods, he knows the value of a dollar. If there are things worth having in NetBeans, they will not be thrown away, they will end up in JDeveloper.

edit

So you say it will abandon NetBeans and salvage some pieces which will go into JDeveloper?

In the long run Oracle will not maintain two Java IDEs. But look at their strategy for handling previous acquisitions (Seibel, JD Edwards, BEA, etc). Oracle have kept those products current while they devised a plan for getting the customers onto Oracle's own brand applications. In some cases this meant dumping Oracle's offering in favour of the acquired product (Seibel Analytics, BEA WebLogic Server).

Oracle has made similar sounding pronouncements with regards to MySQL. People may scoff, but I think Oracle will keep MySQL going, partly because Larry thinks they can make money from it but also just to spike Microsoft's attempts to swipe the MySQL customer base.

I haven't read anything official regarding Oracle's intentions for NetBeans. So the following is just my conjecture. Oracle won't kill off NetBeans. If it did that then all the NetBeans users would probably decamp to Eclipse (because many people share Pascal's belief that "JDeveloper sucks"). Indeed Oracle will probably keep it going for some time yet.

In the meantime they will create an inventory of the features in NetBeans which are better than the JDeveloper equivalent or which have no equivalent, and which can support Oracle's Fusion programme. For instance Ellison has been vocal in his admiration for JavaFX. My uninformed feeling is that it will be easier to port that functionality into JDeveloper than it will be to reverse the Fusion stuff into NetBeans. I might well be wrong about that. Perhaps it would make more sense to leverage NetBeans' broader market penetration and cut JDeveloper loose.

Either way I think you should start working with NetBeans, because that functionality isn't going to disappear overnight.

update

InfoWorld has just (27-JAN-2010) published a summary of Oracle's plans for Sun. The pertinent bit is

NetBeans, the Sun-driven open source Java IDE that has competed with Oracle JDeveloper and the Eclipse platform, will remain as a "lightweight development environment for Java developers," Kurian said. But JDeveloper continues as Oracle's enterprise development tool.

APC
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  • you say here "take from NetBeans". So you say it will abandon NetBeans and salvage some pieces which will go into JDeveloper? – AlexRednic Jan 14 '10 at 08:34
  • Thank you. I think you have answered my question – AlexRednic Jan 14 '10 at 19:03
  • At may 2011 when I posted yes. Now I prefer Intellij Idea. I also recently got very disappointed with Eclipse because of too much bugs. But with Oracle integration, JDeveloper is good when you want to generate an application based on some bussines objects you create using their framework, has their merits. IDE is a problem, there is no silver bullet, software change too much fast, and for nowadays I think the best is Intellij IDEA for general use. – John John Pichler Aug 16 '13 at 12:19
  • @KevinBowersox and Yes, I used a lot JDeveloper in the company, but in 2008 when JSF IDE were starting to show up. It was a very nice IDE to learn JSF. Now my requirements are others... – John John Pichler Aug 16 '13 at 12:22
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    @EdPichler Use of JDeveloper is mandated by my organization. We got sucked into their "Fusion" Middleware garbage. Now I spend half my day investigating esoteric Oracle errors. We must have had two different experiences. – Kevin Bowersox Aug 16 '13 at 12:24
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I was a long time eclipse user, and although I still like it for some things, I believe Netbeans to be a far superior IDE for Java development. I would say go ahead and use NetBeans. You will appreciate it more than Eclipse. In the worst case scenario that Netbeans is no longer supported, you will be a much better developer by the time it has reached its end of life (i dont think this will happen though).

D.C.
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Eclipse is better than Netbeans IMHO even though eclipse doesn't allow you to create GUI.

cx0der
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  • It is probably better, but from my research Eclipse does not come forward in the areas I need (GUI Development and Reports) – AlexRednic Jan 14 '10 at 08:30
  • There are a couple of projects out there that allow creation of Swing GUIs. I am using Jigloo SWT/Swing GUID Builder for Eclipse and have been impressed with it so far. Does what I need it to do then gets out of my way. – David Mann May 10 '10 at 15:22
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If NetBeans seem better for your needs , go with it. I prefer Eclipse but it's just a personal choice.

Even if in the future NetBeans will be no longer supported, you'll still be able to use it, or you'll maybe prefer to start using a another IDE.

Java code remain java code, no matter of the IDE.

I believe that NetBeans will remain supported even under Oracle reign. Since there's a lot of Java developer using it, Oracle won't tell all of them to go away.

Nettogrof
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You worry too much. So what if Oracle discontinues NetBeans next month? Your installation still works, and will for a long time. Just keep the installer, in case you have to set up a new computer. Later, you can still make a switch to another IDE. Should Oracle discontinue NetBeans (or threaten to), surely most other IDEs will offer an "Import NetBeans project" option.

Erich Kitzmueller
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