5.3.2.4 Build a Free-Form Java Project
There are also project templates available for free-form Java projects. In so-called free-form proj-ects, the NetBeans IDE uses targets in an existing Ant script to build, run, clean, test and debug your application. If the Ant script does not contain targets for some of these functions, the functions are unavailable for the project. To implement these functions, you write targets either in your Ant script or in a secondary Ant script.
In general, it is better to use standard With Existing Sources project templates for import-ing projects. For Eclipse projects, it is best to use the Import Project feature, which creates and conFigures a standard project for you. Standard projects are easier to maintain in the long term. However, the free-form project templates can be useful if you have an existing Ant-based project with a complex or idiosyncratic configuration that cannot be replicated within a standard project. For example, if you are importing a project with multiple source roots, each of which has a different classpath, and you cannot split the source roots into different projects, it might be necessary to use a free-form project template.
Because the scope of this book is about database programming with Java, for more detailed information on setting up free-form projects, refer to advanced free-form project configuration.
5.3.3 Build a Java Web Application Project
The Java platform, either Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, provides rich and flexible tools and components to support Web applications and Web services development. With Java EE, devel-opers can build professional, multitier, porTable applications that can be run in cross-platform envi-ronments with improved efficiency.
We will provide a detailed discussion of Java Web applications development in Chapter 8 with real project examples. Refer to that chapter to get more detailed information on building this kind of application in NetBeans IDE.
5.4 SET UP THE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE APACHE NETBEANS IDE 12 TO BUILD OUR CUSTOMER PROJECTS
To successfully develop and build our Java database projects, we need to use some additional Java Development Kits, JDBC drivers and web servers, as well as some tools, which include:
1) Java Development Kit (JDK14)
2) Oracle 18c Express Edition (XE) database
3) Java Database Connection Driver for Oracle 18c XE
4) Oracle SQL Developer
5) GlassFishWeb server
6) Tomcat Web server
The first component, JDK 14, was installed when we downloaded and installed the Apache NetBeans IDE 12 based on Appendices B and N in Section 5.2.
Refer to Appendix A to download and install the Oracle 18c Express Edition (XE) database. For the JDBC driver used for the Oracle 18c XE database, we will discuss the download and installation process for this tool in Section 6.2 in Chapter 6.
Refer to Appendix C to download and install Oracle SQL Developer. The GlassFish Web server was installed when the Apache NetBeans IDE 12 was installed. The Tomcat Web server may be needed later when we build Java Web application projects.