Look out Eclipse, NetBeans 5 is Here

Source: InternetNews.com

Summary:
In scientific terms an eclipse is defined as an event that blocks the sun. For a number of years, the Eclipse IDE(define)has in some respects "eclipsed" Sun Microsystems' IDE as well; that may no longer necessarily be the case.

The Sun backed NetBeans 5.0 is now publicly available boasting a long list of new features and improvements aimed at firmly placing it at the top of the IDE pile. The new IDE includes new GUI tools, mobility, web services refactoring as well as a new support offering from Sun.

Among the most notable improvements in NetBeans 5.0 is the NetBeans GUI Builder also known as known as Project Matisse. Matisse is a drag and drop IDE GUI that is supposed to simplify layout by automatically suggesting spacing, alignment and other layout concerns. Struts and Java Server Faces support is also improved as is support for CVS version control.

As an added bonus, Sun is offering free support to NetBeans 5.0 users via the Sun Developer Network program which is currently in Beta itself. The freely available open source IDE is also being bundled with the NetBeans Mobility Pack 5 which is targeted specifically at mobile Java ME developers.