ANNOUNCE: NetBeans 3.1 beta test cycle begins

Hello everybody,

although we planned to post an official announcement on Friday after
updating pages on our web site and putting together a draft version of
"What's New", but since several keen eyes have already discovered the
new build kept on a secret place on netbeans.org :-) here I go.

The next upcoming version of NetBeans IDE, the 3.1 release has entered a
beta phase.  We invite all of you who are interested in our IDE to go to
http://www.netbeans.org/, download the beta, evaluate it and give us
feedbacks.  There are many improvements and new features in this
release.  Just a few things among them

* scripting module: one can run code written in scripting languages
  directly inside the IDE.  This module is designed in a way which
  allows for plugging in a new scripting engine with very little
  efforts.  Several scripting engines with licenses compatible with Sun
  Public License will be bundled with the IDE.

* ant integration module: [contributed by Jayme Edwards] this module
  makes it very convenient to work with ant buildfiles inside the IDE.
  One can easily and visually create/edit the buildfile and run the
  build.  Using this module the developer can even build the whole
  NetBeans IDE from within itself. [ant is a Java-based build tool,
  developed by Jakarta project, see <http://jakarta.apache.org/>]

* cross-directory compiler: an equivalent of javac's -d switch

* Property editors for JList and JComboBox. These editors allow easy
  editing of content of JList and JComboBox components directly in form
  editor, without writing any code.

* Opening form in non-visual mode. Now it is possible to open only java
  file without form window. This feature was requested for doing changes
  only in java code (not in GUI), avoiding needless changes in
  regenerated code for GUI (confusing user and also Version Control
  Systems).

* Preferred properties. The most important (frequently used, "preferred"
  in JavaBeans spec) properties are now accessible on a new tab in
  Component Inspector. Users no longer needs to go through bunch of
  rarely used properties...

The complete release notes will be available in a few days.

As regarding beta test cycle we won't create beta1, beta2,... as most
commercial software.  Every daily build will be available for download.
You can get the latest build with bug fixes as soon as the developer
fixes them.  When reporting bugs, please, don't forget to tell us the
build number then.

Many people have contributed ideas and code in NetBeans open source
project, we'll put together a CREDITS file before the final release.

Have fun,

    -- Trung, NB 3.1 release coordinator