Chapter 2. NetBeans IDE Fundamentals

• Creating a Project

• Configuring the Classpath

• Creating a Subproject

• Creating and Editing Files

• Setting Up and Modifying Java Packages

• Compiling and Building

• Viewing Project Metadata and Build Results

• Navigating to the Source of Compilation Errors

• Running

• Creating and Running Tests

• Debugging the Application

• Integrating Version Control Commands

• Managing IDE Windows

THIS CHAPTER PROVIDES A GENERAL OVERVIEW of both the workflow in the IDE and the key parts of the IDE. Once you finish this chapter, you should have a solid understanding of the IDE's principles and be able to take advantage of the IDE's central features.

If you are already familiar with NetBeans IDE (4.0 or higher), you can probably skim this chapter or skip it altogether. Subsequent chapters will revisit most of this material in greater depth to answer more involved questions and provide additional details that you can use to squeeze more productivity out of your work with the IDE.