Sun released a couple of significant software releases today…Folks have been working hard to get these release(s) out. So, today, Sun and the NetBeans(TM) community are announcing the availability of the NetBeans Integrated Development Environment (IDE) 6.8 — in conjunction with the availability of Java(TM) Platform Enterprise Edition 6 (Java EE 6) and Sun GlassFish(TM) Enterprise Server v3. ….and there’s a bit more to this.  The Software team is holding a virtual event for folks who want to learn more:

An on-line Virtual Conference will be held on December 15th.  Registration is at https://dct.sun.com/dct/forms/reg_us_2011_956_0.jsp.

KEY UPDATES TO JAVA EE 6

New Developer Productivity Features: Java EE 6 features simplify Java application development with less XML configuration, more annotations and more POJO-like development.

Support for New Specifications: New specifications are available including RESTful Web services, EJB 3.1 and EJB Lite, and Dependency Injection.

Support for Profiles: Java EE 6 adds support for defining Profiles that may be a subset or superset of the traditional Java EE 6 full stack that are tailored to specific application scenarios or verticals.  One specific Profile is defined, the Web Profile, intended for the deployment of modern Web applications.

Additional information is available at: http://java.sun.com/javaee

KEY UPDATES TO GLASSFISH ENTERPRISE SERVER V3

Full Support for Java EE 6: GlassFish Enterprise Server v3 is the first application server to be compatible with the new Java EE 6 specification.

New Modular Runtime: A new modular runtime based on OSGi provides for faster startup and loading only those components required, reducing resource requirements.

GlassFish Web Profile: Implementing the new Java EE 6 Web Profile, this provides an lighter weight runtime optimized for modern Web applications.

Support for Iterative Development: New features allow developers to use an edit, save, reload approach to development, eliminating the time consuming recompile and redeploy steps.  This is extended by application state being preserved eliminating the need to recreate that state after each change.  NetBeans 6.8 has been released providing full support for Java EE 6 development.

Additional information is available at: http://www.sun.com/glassfishv3

KEY UPDATES TO THE NETBEANS 6.8 IDE

The NetBeans IDE 6.8 is available for download free of charge at www.netbeans.org.

Complete Java EE 6 Support: Java EE 6 language features simplify Java application development with less XML configuration, more annotations and more POJO-like development.

GlassFish v3 Support: Developers can easily target and deploy to GlassFish v3, including the new lightweight GlassFish v3 Web Profile.

JavaFX(TM): The latest version of the NetBeans editor provides improved code completion, hints and navigation for JavaFX.

PHP Support: The NetBeans IDE expands its support of dynamic languages with support for PHP 5.3 and the Symfony (open-source PHP) web framework.

Tighter Integration with Project Kenai: Project Kenai, a collaborative environment for hosting open source projects, now delivers full support for JIRA and improved instant messenger and issue tracker integration. For more information visit www.kenai.com.

C/C++ Profiling: The new Microstate Accounting indicator and I/O usage monitor help developers profile and tune C/C++ applications.

NetBeans Platform: As a rock-solid application framework for Swing applications, the platform saves developers a huge amount of time and effort by providing commonly-used facilities such as menu items, toolbar items, keyboard shortcuts, and window management out of the box.

Additional information is available at:

NetBeans 6.8 IDE -  http://netbeans.org/community/releases/68/
Java EE 6 – http://java.sun.com/javaee/
GlassFish v3 – http://www.sun.com/glassfishv3