Prototype of the New Projects Available

(Note: do not replay to this announcement on nbannounce alias. Please
send comments to projects-dev or file issues in issuezilla.)


I am happy to announce a prototype of the new version of the Projects
module for NetBeans. 

The new projects implementation is planed for the release next after
3.4. Our goal with the new Projects module is to improve usability and
intuitivness of the IDE. To name just a few advantages of the new
projects over the existing projects module in NetBeans:

- The description of a project (including project settings) is stored in
an ".project" XML file which can be stored in any filesystem, including
VCS filesystems. This means that projects can be shared by users and
versioned.
- Multiple projects can be open in the IDE at the same time.
- Project has a logical structure that categorizes its files by the role
that they play in the project (sources, resoures and libraries, outputs
and deliverables). 
- Project can be customized by modules, module can define the structure
of projects, customize the UI, define project templates and wizards,
etc.

Our goal with this prototype is to show the concepts of the new projects
and its impact on the user interface and workflow. It is fair to say
that this is only a prototype and it does not include all functionality.
We also do not guarantee 100% quality for this prototype. Any bug
reports and suggestions are very welcome. Please send mail to
[email protected] or file bugs in issuzilla against the projects
module (with version 4.0, specify the build number).

What is available:

(1) You can download a build of the prototype at:

  http://www.netbeans.org/download/prototype-license.html

This is a stripped version of the prototype that contains only several
modules that are needed demonstrate the new projects. 

(2) Besides the prototype, there is also a draft documentation for
Project's module APIs available at projects download page: 
 
  http://projects.netbeans.org/servlets/ProjectDownloadList

(3) To take a look at the sources and/or build the prototype yourself
(including the version with all standard modules), see instructions at
the prototype page
(http://projects.netbeans.org/proposals/prototype/index.html).

(4) User Views and UI Specifications for the new projects are available
at project's module pages (http://projects.netbeans.org).

Thanks,
-pavel, and the whole projects team