Netbeans Advanced Editor Spring 2025 Review

On 8 minutes, 53 seconds read By Edward
Netbeans IDE Tools Options

Netbeans Editor Features Review

Netbeans is a Java-based integrated programming environment (IDE). Netbeans is free, open source and cross-platform (Mac, Windows and Linux).

This review is a 2025 update of an original 2013 article and is based on features I require of an advanced text editor. A list of required features was created after using different editors. Some features require extensions or plug-ins.

Apache Netbeans is a free IDE for Java from the site https://netbeans.apache.org. There are downloadable packages for Linux, Mac and Windows systems. Netbeans can easily be extended by plug-ins to develop applications in other programming languages.

Apache has improved so much since the original review that it is now my preferred IDE for all programming work.

Requirements For Programming Text Editor

Glossary:

Code Editor

Designed for writing and editing source code.

IDE

Integrated Development Environment combines various tools need for software development.

Plugin

Software component that adds specific functionality.

Theme

Preset package containing graphical appearance to customize look and feel.

Open source

Freely available for possible modification and redistribution.

SCM

Source code management use to manage and track modifications to a source code repository.

Test Tools

Test System
Name Description
CPU Intel(R) i7 2600 @ 3.40GHz.
Memory 16GB DDR3.
Operating System Fedora Linux Workstation 41.
Desktop Environment Gnome 47.
Name Description Example

Test Suite
Name Description
Large File 1GB human-readable text.
Regex File Text with word “Netbeans” repeated..
Syntax File PHP file containing HTML, CSS & JavaScript.
Media File Smiley face or Tux Linux JPEG file.
Java Version OpenJDK 21.0.6.
Netbeans Version 25.
Name Description Example

Test Scoring

  1. Each feature has two parts.
  2. Score of zero indicates a missing feature.
  3. A part of a feature is work a score of 0.5.

Three bias elimination steps were utilized. The editor was used for at least three years on different platforms. Attempts were made to get stable plug-ins for missing features. The same editor was compared between the one in the repository, the developers website, and the compiled version if applicable.

Selecting Editor Version

For this review, Netbeans was downloaded from the developers website and it did not require additional plugins.

Features

  1. The theme can be native for the editor in terms of the background, but the dark theme need a minor tweak for source code management. Netbeans comes with dark and light themes and others can be created or downloaded. The score for the theme was 0.8.
  2. Dragging and dropping a text file into the editor opens a new tab. It is still not possible to specify the tab location during the drag and drop operation. The score for drag and drop into editor was 0.5.
  3. Opening a very large text file did not crash Netbeans. An out of memory window was shown and it was not possible to edit the large file. The score for opening a large file was 0.5.
  4. Multiple documents can opened in multiple tabs. Tear-off tabs work by opening a new Netbeans editor instances which is handy for multiple monitors. The score for multiple documents was a perfect 1.0.
  5. Multiple editors can be opened as new tabs with drag options. Every new editor tab can be split vertically or horizontally. The score for multiple editor view was a perfect 1.0.
  6. Creating non-project files is possible by dragging the folder into the workspace. Non-project files can be opened by the drag and drop operation. The score for creating non-project files was a perfect 1.0.
  7. Soft word wrap can be enabled in the editor settings. Automatic soft wrap for documents is available for Netbeans. The score for word wrap was a perfect 1.0.
  8. Spell check works as words are typed. Spelling errors are shown in opened documents. The score for spell check was a perfect 1.0.
  9. Word count is not available for Netbeans. Selection word count is not available. The score for word count was 0.0.
  10. Go to line can jump to a specified line. It is possible to jump to either the first or last line. The score for go to line was a perfect 1.0.
  11. Indentation can default to user-defined tab stops. Children are automatically indented. The score for indentation was a perfect 1.0
  12. Fonts can be dynamically scaled. The system font can be bypassed and a new editor font and size can be set. The score for fonts was a perfect 1.0.
  13. Find and replace using regular expressions can be utilized for all open documents in the current session. Find and replace will work for the current document or a selection in the current document. The score for find and replacing using regular expressions was 1.0.
  14. Multiple language syntax highlighting in one file is enabled if the language plug-ins are installed. Each language has code-sensitive syntax colors which can be modified. The score for multiple language syntax highlighting was a perfect 1.0.
  15. Code folding works for markup languages such as HTML. Code folding also works for programming languages such as Java and PHP. The score for code folding was 1.0.
  16. Selecting rectangular block per column works via a toggle or CTRL-SHIFT-R on Linux. Rectangular block selections work with word wrap enabled. The score for selecting rectangular block was a perfect 1.0.
  17. Multiple selection works using the shortcut CTRL-SHIFT-LMB or CMD-SHIFT-LMB on Macs. Search multiple selection is not available. The score for multiple selection was 0.5.
  18. Distraction-free mode to hide panes works. Line numbers can be toggled to improve distraction-free mode. The score for distraction-free was a perfect 1.0.
  19. The file manager can create and delete folders. Media files can be dragged and dropped into the file manager pane. The score for file manager was a perfect 1.0.
  20. Terminal is integrated into Netbeans. The terminal can follow folder. Terminal can execute system commands. The score for terminal was 1.0.

Results

Netbeans is a very powerful IDE. By default, the Netbeans editor is no longer missing required features which can be installed by using extensions. For my required features, the Netbeans editor scored 86.5% or 8.65 out of 10.

Netbeans Split View
Apache Netbeans Multiple Editor Split View

Netbeans History View
Apache Netbeans Source History View


Usage

Apache Netbeans can be used immediately after opening for Java, HTML5, JavaScript, CSS, C, C++ and PHP applications. For this review, custom files were used to test the code editing features of Netbeans.

Open Source

Netbeans is licensed under the Apache License Version 2.0. This allows commercial use, modification, distribution, and allows making derivatives proprietary. The permissive license has conditions requiring preservation of copyright and license notices.

Live Stream

Every day, you can join a live stream and ask questions. Check Ojambo.com for details and instructions. Scroll down to the footer to see the channels.

Conclusion:

Apache Netbeans is a very powerful integrated programming environment. The dynamic font zoom is fast and workarounds exist for any fully lacking features. Overall Netbeans only scored 8.65 out of 10 for essential code editor features.

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References:

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