In this chapter, we looked at the layout of NetBeans and the different windows (and their content) that are available to help us develop applications. We saw how we can rearrange the windows, including docking them to the main NetBeans window and floating them away from it.

We looked at shortcuts to generating and amending code, learning about file templates, code templates, and code drag and drop. We also saw how to create and playback macros for those situations where we want to record keystrokes and then play them back at a later date.

Finally, we saw how to manage project groups so that we can efficiently organize large projects.

In the next chapter, we'll look at the NetBeans developer's lifecycle, taking a look at running, testing, profiling, and debugging applications. We'll see how NetBeans can aid developers in these areas.