Project files, GUI, NetBeans

Question

I have always used java from the command prompt and without project files.
I use JCreator 3.5 and have all of my java source files in one directory.
When I say ?compile file?, it just retrieves all of the files it needs, very simply.
Now I think I want to use the Swing GUI and maybe the Net Beans IDE.
The tutorial uses project files in the examples,
but I have always considered them as excess baggage.
Do I need project files and what advantages do they contribute?

Answer 1

hillmi wrote:
I have always used java from the command prompt and without project files.
I use JCreator 3.5 and have all of my java source files in one directory.
When I say “compile file”, it just retrieves all of the files it needs, very simply.
Now I think I want to use the Swing GUI and maybe the Net Beans IDE.
The tutorial uses project files in the examples,
but I have always considered them as excess baggage.
Do I need project files and what advantages do they contribute?That depends on what you're referring to here.
If when you say "have all my java source files in one directory" you mean you don't use any packages, it's certainly possible but I'd really recommend against it. Netbeans, especially, tries to structure a project in a way that conforms to best practices for Java development.
Looking at my own Netbeans projects, I see these extra files. I'll try to give reasons if I can. Other IDEs have other files that do much of the same thing by different names:
FILES
build.xml: An ANT build file for your project, automatically generated, which lets Netbeans build the project in a standard way.
manifest.mf: This will go in your packaged JAR and gives the JVM some special options if needed.
FOLDERS
nbproject: Contains the settings for this project and is used to generate the build.xml and manifest.mf files.
src: Your source files.
Optional src/META-INF: Other files that will go into the built JAR file.
test: Testing code you want for your own development process but not to distribute.
lib: Libraries to be shipped with the JAR.
build: Temporary storage for class files built during development.
dist: Netbeans continuously builds a releasable version of your code here.
Basically, the way Netbeans handles it, you save the entire folder for yourself or to share with your team, but when you want to package it up, you just take the dist folder and give that to people.