This release incorporates many new features since the NetBeans IDE 3.0 release.
This module makes it very convenient to work with ant buildfiles inside the IDE. You can easily and visually create and edit the buildfile and run the build. Using this module, you can even build the whole NetBeans IDE from within itself.
Ant is a Java-based build tool, developed by the Jakarta project - see http://jakarta.apache.org/. Jayme Edwards contributed this module.
Using the scripting module, you can run code written in scripting languages directly inside the IDE. This module is designed in a way that allows for plugging in a new scripting engine with very little effort. Several scripting engines with licenses compatible with the Sun Public License will be bundled with the IDE.
A cross-directory compiling functionality has been merged into the Java module to allow you to direct the compiler to send
.class
files to a different directory than the source (replicates javac's -d option).