NetBeans IDE

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NetBeans IDE

A powerful text editor for web scripting
5

Our rating: 

5
Get It: Linux | Mac OS | Windows (Desktop)
License: Free (Open source)
Website: http://netbeans.org/index.html
Review & Alternatives: Best Free HTML Editor - Text
Categories: Programming, HTML Editor
Tags: html-editor, text-editor, WYSIWYG

Pros & Cons:

Good CSS suport, including refactoring of inline CSS to external stylesheet. Tag checking. Customisable code colouring. Code completion. Auto-indentation. Fast and powerful. Customisable UI. PHP editing. Settings exportable. Extensive online support, tutorials and documentation. Cross platform
At first sight NetBeans may be a little intimidating for novices.

Our Review:

My top choice for experienced users goes to NetBeans. It started life as a Java Editor but with recent releases has developed into a powerful text editor for web scripting. It is Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 compatible.

At first glance, NetBeans is a little intimidating. Most of the menu items can be ignored by ordinary mortals. Using it as an HTML/PHP editor is akin to using a steam hammer to crack a peanut. Nevertheless the code completion, code colouring and the professional look and feel make it an excellent choice.

NetBeans supports: HTML and XHTML, CSS, PHP (Version 6.5 and later), Java SE, JavaFX, Web & Java EE, Java ME, Ruby, C/C++ and more.

Download the 31MB PHP version unless you need modules for non-web programming. The Java SE Development Kit, JDK 6.0 Update 26 or later, is required.

NetBeans IDE was reviewed by on