Using NetBeans for ten.java

As with the other IDE-related content, this article aims to get you started with using NetBeans to clone, commit and build your submission.

Installing NetBeans

You can grab NetBeans from the downloads page. For ten.java, the "Java SE" edition is fine. Complete the install wizard and then launch NetBeans. No additional plugins need to be installed.

Importing the project

To get started, we need to clone your GitHub repository. First, go to the tenjava user profile and search for your repository. It should be in the form of {username}-t{1/2/3}. If you can't find it, refer to this FAQ entry. In your browser, find the clone URL section of your GitHub repository (in the sidebar) and copy the URL. You'll probably want to use the HTTPS URL for this.

With NetBeans open, select the Team > Git > Clone... menu item as per the screenshot below:

In the dialog that appears, paste the clone URL and fill out your GitHub credentials:

Press next and then tick the "master" branch:

Finally, click the Finish button:

You should be informed the clone has completed and asked to open the project. Click the "Open Project" button here:

Using NetBeans during the contest

Now that the project is imported, you're all set to use NetBeans to help you develop and build your submission.

Building your submission

During the course of the contest, you'll probably want to build and test your plugin. To build your JAR file, simply click the hammer button (). If everything went smoothly, you should see a "BUILD SUCCESS" message in the console:

Maven will create the plugin JAR file in the target directory which you can then copy to your test server's plugin directory.

Note: You don't have to use the integrated Maven support that is provided by NetBeans. If you prefer, you can build your plugin from the command line with the 'mvn' command.

Committing and pushing to GitHub

During the contest it's important you regularly commit your work to our GitHub repository. You should commit at least 4 times per hour when you're actively developing.

Once you've made a change in NetBeans, you can commit by right clicking on the project and using the Git > Commit... option:

(Alternatively you can use the Team dropdown menu to access this functionality).

This will open up a dialog you can use to describe your changes. It's good practice to enter a short (about 50 chars) first line explaining what you've done though given the nature of the contest and frequent commits we don't expect anything substantial or really descriptive.

Press the commit button when you're happy with your message. To push, use the Team > Remote > Push to Upstream menu item:

This will send your changes to GitHub. They'll be announced in our IRC channel, featured on the website (along with the most recent changes) and our build server will automatically build your latest code.

We strongly recommend you stay in our IRC channel throughout the contest if you can. We'll ping you (notify you by saying your username in chat) if a build fails so you can figure out why and fix it. You can also chat and ask for help if you need it.

Remember, if your project doesn't compile at all throughout the contest we cannot judge it. If a later build fails, we'll end up using the last successful build.

Note: There's no obligation to use NetBeans' git support and some developers prefer other options. You're free to use GitHub for Windows, SourceTree, the command line or any other client if you prefer.