Apache NetBeans, a longstanding favorite IDE among developers used primarily for Java development but also supports other languages like PHP, JavaScript, HTML, C/C++, and more, has just reached version 25. Here’s what’s changed.
Those working with Gradle projects will appreciate a smoother testing experience as this release refines the single-file test feature to correctly detect test classes whose names differ from their corresponding file names.
Furthermore, NetBeans 25 conveniently adds an action for running tests in parallel. Another update ensures that the configured Java Runtime is considered when initializing Gradle, guaranteeing closer alignment with user-defined runtime preferences.
For the devs relying on Maven, there is a suite of improvements to optimize dependency resolution, especially for annotation processors such as Lombok. A remote index migration and refactoring capability also bring additional stability and clarity to artifact management.
Notably, issues relating to project reload with missing artifacts have been addressed. In addition, a fix has been implemented to prevent release candidates from inadvertently stealing the Maven index from general availability releases.
For Ant developers, the NetBeans 25 release addresses potential instabilities when opening large numbers of Ant projects in bulk. The devs have also improved compatibility with Payara Server instances running on Windows Subsystem for Linux when deploying on save.
Numerous language improvements enhance the development experience in Java, particularly in code completion, code folding, and test stability. Refined folding for editors that only support line folding and the resolution of CRLF mismatches on Windows are also in place. In addition, MacOS users will notice that test failures have also been addressed.
For those building applications with PHP, NetBeans 25 includes broad support for newer language features up to PHP 8.4, such as arbitrary static variable initializers and new syntactic constructs. Support for advanced static analysis has also expanded through improved integration with tools like PHPStan.
On the web development side, debugging for JavaScript and TypeScript benefits from improved path handling in the JS CDT Debugger and better integration of Language Server Protocol features.
This release also introduces various upgrades, such as smoother refactoring previews, stable handling of tab order, and prevention of null pointer exceptions for mark occurrences in JavaScript and other Common Scripting Language files.
Furthermore, the semantic highlighting engine has been refined for better performance and readability. The UI also receives improvements in SVG icon loading, further reducing reliance on the older Batik library while enhancing performance.
Finally, NetBeans 25 continues to modernize its core platform by removing outdated security manager flags and logging JDK boot modules upon startup for diagnostic clarity, plus the development team has also begun testing on JDK 24-ea.
See the changelog for more information on what’s new in Apache NetBeans 25 open-source IDE. Downloads are available here.
