NetBeans is available at the following URL: http://www.netbeans.org/

The download page for the IDE is located at: http://www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html

NetBeans is available for both Windows and Mac; we are using NetBeans IDE Release 3.5.1. When you select your download from the list under "English installers", be sure to select the version for your particular operating system (Mac OS X, Windows, etc )

Note for PC Users: If you prefer to download both JDK and NetBeans together, the link is at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html.Choose the option under the highlighted blue box, where you see Download
J2SE v 1.4.2_04 SDK with NetBeans 3.6 Bundle, which downloads them together.

If you prefer to install JDK and NetBeans separately, first install JDK from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/download.html and then install Net Beans from http://www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html

Note for Mac OS X Users: You do not need to install JDK as it is included already in OS X; you only need NetBeans! Go to directly to the NetBeans download page; and select OS X. Note that your download file must have a suffix of .dmg ; some students have downloaded the file and found it with a suffix of only ".d"; once the file was renamed with a suffix of ".dmg", it installed successfully.

Getting Started: writing and running programs

File
New Template
Java Classes
Empty Java File
next

Name your file at the top of the screen.
Select the directory.
Finish.

Adding line numbers to your screen:

Tools
Options
Editing
Editor Settings
Java Editor
Set "Line Numbers" on and any other features you need

Writing your programs:

• use F11 to Build
• use F6 to Execute
• use F7 to start to Step through the program; once you are in the method main, use F8 to continue, line by line within main. To step through additional methods, use F7.

  Note: if you receive an error that source code is missing when stepping through with F7 or F8, you may select
  Stop at First Line with Source
  which will continue running the program with your source code.

• Use View / Debugger Window to see the Watch window
• Right-click on the PC with your cursor in the Watch window or use CTRL+Shift+F7 to add variables to the Watch Window
• In order to stop a program from running (e.g. if you start up an infinite loop) in Netbeans:

  1. Select View / Execution view (or CTRL-6).
  2. Then select the Process; right-click; and terminate.

Troubleshooting (General):

• If you can't step through a program: Try assigning literals to your variables and comment out the JOptionPane dialogue boxes for data entry when you wish to step through a program; this will simplify the process. When your program works to your satisfaction, you can remove the comments and query the user for the input values.
• If you run out of memory, it could be that there are too many processes running simultaneously. This can happen if you run a program and it crashes but the process has not been terminated or if you omit the line System.exit(0);. Periodically you can select View / Execution for a list of processes and right-click on each unnecessary process to terminate it(or exit NetBeans completely and then re-start).

Troubleshooting (Mac):

• Be sure to create a new folder on your system to hold your programs rather than trying to use the default folder. (NetBeans uses a hidden folder for the default directory location.) Use FILE / MOUNT FILESYSTEM to be able to use that folder for your programs.
• Use CTRL-C and CTRL-V to copy and paste ... rather than using the command key.
• Use F7 and F8 to step through programs just as you would on the PC.
• In order to add variables to a watch window, use CTRL+click to obtain the menu.