NetBeans

Programming has always been a mystical craft. In the beginning, it involved moving plug wires in a frame with rows and columns of jacks. The process has only become more complex as layer after layer of obfuscation has been added.

Some people actually enjoy programming, others get paid for it, still others, perhaps you, are merely curious. If you fit one of these categories read on.

There is still an attitude that real programming must be as difficult as possible or amateurs will get in the game. Like the high priests of old, they practice their craft in hidden sanctuaries using a language few understand and into which the common people are forbidden. Fortuantely, there have been heretics who translate the sacred scriptures into common language, a few of which have escaped the stake.

One of the heresies is the IDE or Integrated Development Environment. The IDE provides a framework for the collections of tools to make the development process possible. Some companies make their IDEs proprietary and like a religious cult, you must pay the priests for both the IDE and the training needed before being granted access. These cults, including Microsoft and Oracle, make money on both ends. First the developer must pay and later the user must pay. Others like Sun and IBM have grudingly joined the Reformation and the ties bind both developers and users into cultural arrangements intended to financially benefit the cult.

Once in a great while, these movements break free. NetBeans is one of those. It has even dragged the Sun JDK (Java Development Kit) with them. The new Religion is so compelling that tens of thousands of software developers have joined. The cost of admission is a rather grueling download (if you are without a broadband connection "contact" me for a CD). You may want to clean up old versions of the JDK before installation.

Ongoing development is rapid and you may want to download the latest version from http://www.netbeans.info/downloads/index.php and look under "development builds". The Windows installation is trivial, with Linux prefix the file name with "sh ".

Once installed, browse around the Welcome page; then check back here for the article on "Finding Matisse".