Hello Ulrich, As to #1, I am also an author. I've published one book, and I am 80% done with my second. I spend most of my extra time on that.
Your suggestion makes a lot of sense. If I had the time, I would definitely do that. As to #2, I just sent out another long email that answers that question. Thanks. Blake On Sun, Jan 18, 2026 at 6:29 AM Ulrich Mayring <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Blake, > > thank you very much for sharing your experiences. I would be interested > in two aspects: > > 1) If Claude Code does save you so much time, surely now you have some > free time to put into Netbeans? You could easily let Claude Code develop > a plugin that supports your own build system. You can teach Claude Code > the core codebase of Netbeans and that of your build system and surely > it would be able to implement the project API for your build system? > > 2) What exactly is it about Netbeans that you like so much that using > another IDE like IntelliJ or Eclipse is not your preferred option? > > Kind regards, > > Ulrich > > > Am 18.01.26 um 05:19 schrieb Blake McBride: > > Greetings, > > > > I thought that sharing my experience with Claude Code might be useful, > > as it has dramatically increased my ability to repair bugs and implement > > features, and I believe it could do the same for NetBeans. > > > > I single-handedly maintain two primary systems. The first is Stack360 > > <https://stack360.io>, a large web-based system. The backend consists > of > > roughly 9,000 Java and Groovy classes. The frontend is HTML and > > JavaScript and includes about 300 screens. The frontend and backend > > communicate over REST. The backend uses PostgreSQL with nearly 300 > > tables, and there are seven distinct frontends communicating with a > > single backend. > > > > The second system is my KISS web development framework, described at > > KissWeb.org <https://KissWeb.org>. It is open source, so anyone can > > examine it in as much detail as they like. > > > > I began using Claude Code to help support, debug, and enhance these > > systems about six months ago. Early on, I invested significant time > > teaching Claude Code about my systems, architecture, and coding > standards. > > > > Computers understand many languages, and to communicate with them you > > must learn one or more of those languages—Java, HTML, JavaScript, C, C#, > > Python, and so on. There is a different “language” used to work > > effectively with AI, and that language is English. Teaching Claude Code > > about my systems and standards is done entirely in plain English using > > plain text files. > > > > Before using Claude Code, I spent nearly all of my time supporting, > > debugging, and enhancing these systems. I worked seven days a week, > > roughly twelve hours a day. My only other concern was spending enough > > time with my wife to keep my marriage on track. > > > > Since training Claude Code on my systems, it now handles roughly 95% of > > my workload. Tasks that once took hours now take minutes. Does it make > > mistakes? Absolutely! But so has every employee I have ever worked with. > > When an employee makes a mistake, you must be careful how you present > > the issue—people get offended easily. Claude Code is always available > > and never gets an attitude. > > > > I pay $100 per month for Claude Code and have never hit a usage limit. I > > have defined several agents, each with expertise in a specific area. > > Claude Code uses these agents in parallel, with them communicating and > > collaborating to solve problems. > > > > Now to how this relates to NetBeans—I apologize in advance for being > blunt. > > > > NetBeans was once my favorite IDE by far. It had the most intuitive > > interface I had ever used. Around the time NetBeans stopped functioning > > properly during the Apache transition, I switched to IntelliJ out of > > necessity. While IntelliJ is far better than IDEs like Eclipse, NetBeans > > was still the best, in my opinion. > > > > Unfortunately, NetBeans has remained unusable for serious work since the > > rework that was done as part of that transition. I would like to help, > > but I simply do not have the time. For me, that is not an option. > > > > For my purposes, the current version of NetBeans is far too restrictive > > and buggy for real-world use. That is a shame, because I genuinely like > > NetBeans. For a long time I assumed things would improve. Many years > > have passed, and in many areas the situation has worsened. > > > > I understand that progress depends on contributions. At present, there > > are not enough effective contributions to drive NetBeans forward in a > > meaningful way. Left as things are, I doubt NetBeans will ever regain > > anything close to its former level of use. > > > > This is where Claude Code becomes relevant. Tools like Claude Code can > > dramatically increase the amount of progress each contributor can > > deliver. Making a serious effort to integrate AI-assisted development > > into the NetBeans workflow could significantly accelerate development. I > > believe that a substantially more capable and useful version of NetBeans > > could be produced in a relatively short time. > > > > Like it or not, AI systems such as Claude Code are already replacing > > large portions of what we do. This is happening regardless of personal > > preference. My advice is simple: take maximum advantage of it while you > can. > > > > Thanks, > > Blake McBride > > > > -- > iSYS Software GmbH > > Ulrich Mayring | Full Stack Developer > Technology Lab / R&D > > Tel: +49 (0) 89 46 23 28-0 | Fax +49 (0) 89 46 23 28-14 > email: [email protected] > > Grillparzerstraße 10 | D-81675 München > www.isys.de > > Sitz der Gesellschaft: München | HRB 111760 > Geschäftsführer: Stefan Fischer und Max Haller > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists > >
