Development Resources

This page serves as a quick index of resources (documents, specifications, proposals...) relevant to developers working on NetBeans code.

Individual module home pages also have more specific information about development topics relevant only to that module; this page is for information affecting all NetBeans developers.

Infrastructure & Getting Started

• Accessing the Mercurial server
• How sources are laid out physically in Mercurial (directory structure and conventions; code branches)
• List of modules (and other code components)
• How to patch the IDE or build it from source
• How to contribute source
• How to get started in the NetBeans community

Relevant Mailing Lists

• nbdev@netbeans.org (general development issues in the IDE)
• dev@openide.netbeans.org (using the Open APIs)
• nbui@netbeans.org (development and discussion of user interface)

The Open APIs

• Open APIs home page
• Browse them online
• Development-time support inside the IDE
• Module Developer's Upgrade Guide

Guidelines and Specifications

• User Interface Design
• Internationalization
• Structure of an IDE Installation
• Performance Pages
• NetBeans Code Conventions
• Versioning Policy
• NetBeans Releases
• "Stable" Module Criteria
• Setting Up Your Website on netbeans.org