The NetBeans open source project is proud to announce the early access
release of the NetBeans IDE 4.1 as the project delivers significant
new development capabilities for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise
Edition 1.4 (J2EE) including Enterprise Java Bean (EJB) components and
Web Services.

For downloads of this release go to:

   http://www.netbeans.org/downloads/index.html

For the quick start guide, see:

   http://www.netbeans.org/kb/articles/quickstart-j2ee-41.html

This early access release has over 15 new modules for developing J2EE
1.4 applications and is built on the novel and breakthrough NetBeans
4.0 technology. Users can develop programs for Java 2 Platform,
Standard Edition (J2SE), Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2ME), and
now J2EE EJBs and Web Services. Using the free Sun Java System
Application Server Platform Edition 8.1 beta as the deployment runtime
and with NetBeans guiding the developer and automatically building the
underlying J2EE infrastructure, learning about and developing J2EE 1.4
applications has never been easier. To further assist the developer,
there are numerous samples of J2EE applications easily accessible from
within the IDE, as well contributions from the J2EE Java BluePrints
catalog.

With a pure Java technology integrated development environment and
cross platform availability for Windows, Linux and the Solaris
Operating System, this is the best time to get a look at the future.

The next early access release is planned for January 2005.

Key Features

Create an EJB Module and EJB Session Beans

   * The NetBeans IDE guides the user through the process to easily
learn how to write an EJB as well as deploy, package and test
applications
   * A GUI is available to select an EJB and perform the required
tasks such as adding business methods and editing deployment
descriptors
   * All EJB infrastructure methods are generated automatically and
are hidden in a power code fold
   * The resulting EJB module can easily be added to a J2EE
application
   * The NetBeans project structure matches J2EE Java BluePrints
standards and relies on the Ant open standard for the build system

Calling EJBs

   * It's easy for the developer to create a servlet and call an EJB
from this servlet code
   * The Web Application can then be added to a J2EE Application that
will also have the corresponding EJB Module and this J2EE Application
is then deployed to the application server

Develop Web Services

   * Developers can create and modify Web Services and deploy,
package and test them from the IDE
   * Developers can register existing Web Services to the IDE, and
then easily add the code that will call these Web Services
   * Developers can test all the registered Web Services from the IDE
by simply entering the input parameters of each operation
   * The NetBeans IDE guides the user through the process to easily
learn how to write EJB and J2EE Applications to select a web service
and perform required tasks