A new version of Apache NetBeans IDE is now available.

Apache NetBeans 12.0 adds support for the latest Java language features, integrates new code donations from Oracle for Java Web development, enhances its best of breed Apache Maven tooling, brings multiple enhancements for users of Gradle, includes built-in features for Payara and WildFly for the first time, introduces new out of the box templates for JavaFX, upgrades and extends its PHP editor, provides new dark look and feel options, and includes a wide range of fixes.

All features provided by Apache NetBeans are supported out of the box, without additional plugins needing to be installed, and all for free. Apache NetBeans 12.0 is the first LTS release of NetBeans as a top level Apache project.

We would like to thank all contributors, the community, and the Apache Software Foundation for the great co-operation and enthusiasm enabling this complex and exciting project to continue to inspire and be of use to developers all over the world.

Java

The highlights of the enhancements in the Java area are focused on support for the latest Java language features.

Java Language Features

To use the latest Java language features (listed below) in the Java Editor, run Apache NetBeans on the JDK that provides those features, enabling Apache NetBeans to use the Java compiler from the JDK it runs on for its Java Editor support for those features.

Java 14

JEP 359: Records (Preview Feature) — syntax coloring for the new "record" keyword; Navigator shows equals, hashCode, toString, etc; and formatting support for records.

Java 13

JEP 355: Text Blocks (Preview) — Java editor hint has been introduced for converting to/from text blocks.
JEP 305: Pattern Matching for instanceof (Preview Feature)

Java 12

JEP 325: Switch Expressions (Preview) – code completion for JEP-325 preview feature for multiple case labels, as shown below.

Java 11

JEP 330: Launch Single-File Source-Code Programs — single Java source files can be created, outside of projects, in the Favorites window, and they can be run and debugged, if NetBeans is running on JDK 11 or later.

JavaFX

Two OpenJFX Gluon Maven artifacts are now registered in the New Project dialog, named " FXML JavaFX Maven Archetype (Gluon)" and " Simple JavaFX Maven Archetype (Gluon)", with their nbactions.xml files customized so that running and debugging can be done out of the box without any tweaking needed by the user.

Java Build Systems

Maven

The key new feature for Maven users in Apache NetBeans 12.0 is its support for Java language preview features, introduced in 11.1. Java compiler arguments, e.g., "--enable-preview",  are passed to Java editor from Maven.

Gradle

The key new feature for Gradle users in Apache NetBeans 12.0 is its support for Java EE.

PHP, JavaScript, and HTML

The key new feature for PHP users in Apache NetBeans 12.0 is its support for PHP 7.4.

C/C++

The donation of the NetBeans C and C++ features from Oracle to Apache has been completed in the 11.3 timeframe, though the code has not yet been integrated into Apache NetBeans. This is anticipated to be a large task and may take some time, involving not only license changes and IP clearance in Apache, though also potentially code changes since not everything that was part of these features in Oracle was able to be donated by Oracle to Apache.

Until the code integration is complete, go to the Plugin Manager, enable the NetBeans IDE 8.2 Update Center, which lets you install the NetBeans IDE 8.2 modules providing C and C++ features.

General

Appearance

A key focus of the 12.0 release is around appearance, since the NetBeans dark look and feels support (Dark Metal and Dark Nimbus) has been donated by Oracle to Apache, while FlatLaf, a completely new look and feel  by Karl Tauber from FormDev Software GmbH, has been integrated. Also, enhancements for HiDPI on Windows have been introduced.

Miscellaneous

• Windows LAF: Fixed tiny or huge GUI font size on various HiDPI configurations, fixed incorrectly sized component icons (radio buttons, checkboxes, project tree expansion handles etc.) on various HiDPI configurations, fixed uneven borders on text components on non-integral HiDPI scaling factors, e.g., 150%, fixed broken tab dragging (window rearrangements) on HiDPI displays.

• Toolbar browser icon take advantage of improved HiDPI scaling.

• Implemented simplified HeapView widget.

• Fixed  incorrectly positioned line-width marker (i.e., shown at 82 characters instead of 80 characters), and inaccurate tab alignments. This bug existed at certain editor zoom levels on Windows, Linux, and MacOS, including on non-HiDPI screens.

• Fixed  clipped file names in Projects window and Files window on Windows on HiDPI screens.

Release Notes / Download