The NetBeans IDE has come a long way, and with the recent release of NetBeans 5.5 Beta, it is among the first developer tools to provide comprehensive Java EE 5 support. Among the new features are:

• Wizards for creating a complete web application for manipulating data in the database using Java Persistence.
• Generates EJB 3 Java entity classes from existing DB schemas
• Creates entity classes in the IDE and lets the server generate the DB relying on the DB-from-Java feature in Glassfish
• Enhanced Java source editor for code completion and hints
• High level user actions that generate common code patterns (e.g. using an Entity Manager)
• Simplified development of session beans and message driven beans
• Enhanced Java source editor with code completion, error checking, and hints specifically targeting EJB 3.
• Web tier technologies updated for Java EE 5 platform: Servlet 2.5, JavaServer Pages 2.1, JavaServer Faces 1.2
• Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) Support (aka Web Service 2.0)
• Generates JAX-WS 2.0 artifacts for SE 6 and EE 5 projects