I haven’t checked it in a while, but I recently saw that the NetBeans team has updated the official roadmap for version releases. I had previously seen a mention of NetBeans 7, but it seems the next release will be NetBeans 6.5.
As a quick follow-up to my previous post on the NetBeans Feature on Demand, I was thinking about how nice it would to further optimize the NetBeans startup time (via module unloading).
When NetBeans loads, it processes and loads each module that is active. To speed up this process I manually uninstall modules I know I will never use, as well as deactivating modules I use infrequently. It would be nice if the IDE could monitor and do this for me.
Earlier tonight, I attended the NetBeans ‘Feature on Demand’ Birds of a Feather Session at JavaOne 2008 presented by Sun’s Geertjan Wielenga and Jiri Rechtacek.
NetBeans 5.5 contained a useful tool called the ‘Javadoc Auto Comment’ feature. With the heavy rewrite of the NetBeans internals in version 6.0, the auto comment tool as we knew it was stripped out. This was down with some howling and protests, but at least there was a good reason (and not simply for the heck of it).
Quoted from NetBeans Wiki:
‘We have intended to replace the AC tool for a long time due to its archaic UI and a weak linkage to the editor, where users usually want to edit source code. Changes in the Java model in NetBeans 6.0 forced us to drop the tool immediately and start to implement particular features that will replace the tool as resources permit. So NetBeans 6.0 contains basic editor hints to create or fix javadoc, and the long-awaited ability to generate javadoc skeleton on /** + <Enter> in the open editor as the first step. Of course, the Javadoc Search and the Show Javadoc were adapted to the new model as well.’
NetBeans 6 did contain Javadoc hints and warning so on a class by class basis you could see what was missing or incomplete. NetBeans 6.1 introduced Javadoc code completion. So far so good, but it wasn’t quite as useful as the old Auto Comment tool.
I recently checked the NetBeans 6.1 update center and discovered a plugin listed called Javadoc Analyzer. I had been following several related bug posts at the NetBeans site and knew they had been working on it, but had not had time to try it out.
Download it from the update center and you’re ready to use it with no configuration.
The first day of the JavaOne 2008 conference, Tuesday, May 6, I was lucky enough to be able to have a book signing for my book, Pro NetBeans IDE 6 Rich Client Platform Edition.
 
I would like to thank all the folks that stopped by to get their copy signed, to briefly chat about NetBeans, or for some strange reason to ask for directions to something (specifically Esplanade rooms, the bathroom, some vendor’s table, you name it..). I guess there’s something about a guy sitting behind a desk/podium that screams “Information Booth”.
 
 Anyways, I had a good time and enjoyed meeting everyone who stopped by. I would like to thank the guys at Apress and DigitalGuru for arranging to have me there.
