When it comes to IDEs and text editors, the names involved change almost like the tides. For many, there are likely plenty of individual names on the list that have waxed and waned with the passage of time like Visual Studio, Komodo, Crimson, ScITE, and a host of others. Some of them are great and some not so much, but NetBeans 7.3 from Oracle (News – Alert) is proving to be the best one on the list and it’s going to back up that assertion with some exciting new functionality.

Perhaps the biggest new point in NetBeans 7.3’s favor is its new support for HTML5. A cross-platform IDE offers an HTML project wizard, and within said wizard is a set of popular templates along with JavaScript frameworks. That brings up the second point in NetBeans 7.3’s favor—it also packs in support for both JavaScript and CSS (News – Alert), rounding out the total slate of choices up from Java, C/C++ and PHP.

Further included in the package is an internal server, a WebKit browser, some Web design facilities that are being quite well regarded among some parts of the design community and Chrome integration. There’s a surprisingly straightforward little menu that allows for easy adjustment of screen resolution measured first by the type of device and then by the pixel resolution directly beneath. One of the resolution options is "smartphone landscape,” measuring at 480 x 320.

The JavaScript editor has taken some interesting modifications which are said to yield impressive results, like better code completion, and CSS styles pick up some improvement as well with a rule editor that some say looks a lot like that of Inspector.

Finally, the whole thing wraps up with the inclusion of a new debugger that analyzes code running on either Chrome or the internal browser to help find errors in addition to a browser log to make the process even simpler.

The whole thing is making some look twice at NetBeans, thanks in large part to the sheer number of new functions that have been added in, as well as some serious enhancements on the client side. The proper development tools make a world of difference when it comes to building the apps and programs we all know and love, so even for those who don’t do a lot of programming, this should still be regarded as good news. It gives those who do a lot of programming some exciting new tools in the toolbox and may make development an overall smoother and faster process.

With lots of new developments in Web technology coming out most every day, the thought that development could be even better should prove exciting for most anyone who uses the Web. It will be interesting to see who makes the switch to NetBeans 7.3, and what exactly those who do switch do with this new set of tools.