Unlike other general-purpose programming languages, Java is widely used by developers to build desktop, web, and mobile applications. But developers are often looking for intelligent integrated development environments (IDEs), frameworks, and tools to write Java applications efficiently and quickly. Developers can write more code quickly and efficiently by using a Java IDE matrix. Both NetBeans and Eclipse are very popular Java IDEs.
Despite being open source, NetBeans is the official IDE for the Java platform. The features and tools provided by NetBeans allow developers to build a variety of desktop, web, and mobile applications with Java 8. The IDE also supports a variety of technologies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and C/C++, plus from java. . The editors, parsers, and converters provided by NetBeans make it even easier for developers to upgrade their legacy applications to the latest version of Java.
Eclipse is written in Java and designed with features to simplify Java application development. Developers can further extend the IDE easily by using a variety of plugins. In addition, they can use specific plugins to develop applications by integrating Java with other popular programming languages, including Ruby, Perl, PHP, Scala, and Groovy. Additionally, Eclipse is an open source IDE and is supported by an active community. Therefore, it becomes essential for developers to compare NetBeans and Eclipse based on their key features and functionality.
Understand the important differences between NetBeans and Eclipse
Java 8 compatibility: Java version 8 comes with several new features and enhancements, including lambda expressions, a new date/time API, and the integrated Nashhorn JavaScript engine. Therefore, many developers prefer to write applications in Java 8 to take advantage of the new features of Java 8. NetBeans is the official Java IDE and is fully compatible with Java SE 8. On the other hand, Eclipse implements the new Java 8 language enhancements. via the Eclipse Compiler for Java (ECJ). Developers have to follow a series of steps to take advantage of the new language features provided by Java 8.
Java 8 Migration: Oracle recommends that Java developers use NetBeans. Therefore, NetBeans is compatible with the latest version of Java almost immediately after its release. In addition, it provides a variety of tools to make it easy for developers to migrate their legacy applications to the latest version of Java. Developers can take advantage of the code editors, parsers, and converters provided by NetBeans to move their applications to Java 8 quickly and seamlessly. But Eclipse doesn’t provide robust tools to simplify migration to Java 8.
Number of plugins: Eclipse beats NetBeans in the plugin category. Many developers choose Eclipse to easily add functionality to their application by taking advantage of the plugins it provides. However, developers often have to use various third-party plugins for Eclipse. The quality and performance of these third-party plugins differ. On the other hand, NetBeans allows users to take advantage of a set of quality and stable plugins.
User interface: NetBeans UI is designed based on SWT while Eclipse UI is designed based on SWT. Swift is a lightweight native Java toolkit while SWT is a Java for System underlying toolkit. Many developers consider the NetBeans user interface to be simpler and friendlier than the Eclipse user interface. NetBeans’ simple user interface makes it even easier for beginners to learn and use the IDE without spending extra time or effort. But Java programmers have to spend more time and effort to work with Eclipse efficiently.
Setting: NetBeans comes with several built-in features out of the box. Out-of-the-box functionality allows users to quickly set up the IDE and perform basic programming tasks without delay. But Eclipse is not designed with a lot of functionality out of the box. Users must install and configure Eclipse plugins to perform common tasks and build applications efficiently. These plugins make it difficult for beginners to set up and use the IDE in a short amount of time.
Work with other programming languages: Both Java IDEs allow developers to work with other popular programming languages and technologies. NetBeans supports HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and C/C++ along with Java. In addition, Eclipse also allows programmers to integrate Java with several popular programming languages, including Python, Perl, PHP, Groovy, and Scala. But NetBeans is designed as a tool-based IDE and allows programmers to work with other technologies through specific projects. Eclipse requires developers to install and configure specific plugins to work with individual technologies. Therefore, Java developers find it easier to work with other programming languages while using NetBeans.
Maven support: Both NetBeans and Eclipse are compatible with Maven, a widely used project management tool. The comprehensive build lifecycle framework provided by Maven makes it easy for programmers or automates the entire build infrastructure. But many programmers find it easier to work with Maven while using NetBeans. They can execute Maven targets directly within NetBeans. They can also use a console to view the output of Maven commands directly in NetBeans. NetBeans makes it even easier for users to update Maven dependencies, release Maven builds, and create new Maven projects.
Android application development: The Java programming language is widely used to develop mobile applications for Android, the mobile platform with the largest global market share. Statistics published on various websites show that most Android app developers prefer Eclipse to NetBeans. In addition to being simple and fast, Eclipse also provides a standard UI toolkit, Swing, which can be seamlessly integrated into Android applications. In addition, a wide variety of plugins provided by the Eclipse SDK make it easy for developers to build robust Android applications without spending additional time and effort. However, NetBeans also provides various features and tools to simplify Android application development.
Source code formatting: Both Java IDEs have the ability to automatically format the source code of the application written in Java. But many programmers find that the Java code formatter provided by Eclipse is more efficient than the code formatting options provided by NetBeans. While using Eclipse, programmers can call the Java code formatter directly using the CSF shortcut. Therefore, they can format Java code flexibly and efficiently.
In general, both NetBeans and Eclipse are cross-platform, open source Java IDEs. But Eclipse is IBM compatible while NetBeans is Oracle compatible. Each IDE provides several innovative features and tools to simplify and speed up Java application development. But developers must weigh the pros and cons of each Java IDE based on the specific needs of each project.
