Installing NetBeans is quite easy. Let's see how it's done.
Go to the URL http://netbeans.org/ and download the latest (or your favorite) version of NetBeans Java EE edition.
Run the just downloaded installation file.
The installation program will allow you to choose whether to install Apache Tomcat or Glassfish. Although you can use most Java servers, we will use Tomcat to deploy our applications. So, make sure you check Apache Tomcat and click on Next.
Accept the terms of the license agreement and click on Next.
Accept the terms of the JUnit license agreement and click on Next.
Select the directory you would like NetBeans to be installed to and click on Next.
Select the directory you would like Tomcat to be installed to and click on Next.
Click on Install to start the installation process.
Once the installation process is finished, you will be prompted to contribute to the NetBeans project. If you wish to, check the corresponding option and click on Finish, otherwise just click on the Finish button.
As you can guess, we have installed NetBeans and we are ready to create our first Vaadin project.
The best and the easiest way to create Vaadin 7 projects in NetBeans is by using Maven. Fortunately, NetBeans have very good support for Maven projects. If you don't know Maven, don't worry, be happy (thanks Bobby). Follow these steps and you'll get a Vaadin application willing to be hacked right away.