Initially for exploration of the features working with mouse may feel fancy but as you continue using the tool for project development and want to concentrate more on task in hand you start finding ways to do things faster. NetBeans IDE 6.1 provides many keyboard shortcuts if used judiciously they can save a lot of developers time.
I use certain shortcut keys more often than other keys. This is a list of the keyboard shortcuts for NetBeans IDE which I use in my day to day development tasks.
1. CTRL+F12 Navigate to Member
When my class becomes big and there are many methods in the class navigating to a specific method becomes easy with this dialog box.
As soon as I start typing the name of the desired method the dialog contents are filtered for me to select from matching method names starting from what I have typed.
2. SHIFT+ESC Toggle Editor Maximize / Minimize
I like working in the fully maximized editor window. SHIFT+ESC maximize the editor window for me and I can work with full concentration. When I need to see other windows I can again press SHIFT+ESC and I get the normal layout of windows back.
3. CTRL+7 Activate Navigator Window
When I am in maximized editor mode and I need to navigate to some method, either I choose the method 1 as described above or sometimes I use CTRL+7 to activate the navigator window. The windows other than editor in NetBeans follow a specific pattern, you can type characters and a quick search window appears which selects the most appropriate item from the window according to what is typed in this quick search window.
4. CTRL+/ Toggle Comment
For quick commenting of some lines I select those lines and press CTRL+/ to comment all those selected lines. The same lines can be uncommented again by following the same process.
5. ALT+SHIFT+F Format Code
This key combination formats my code to the standard Java Code Formatting template.
6. CTRL+0 Activate the Editor
When I am in the Navigator window through the shortcut CTRL+7 and I want to navigate back to the editor i press CTRL+0. I do not need mouse to do this navigation and save a lot of time in navigating between windows.
7. CTRL+# Activate different windows
These shortcuts are handy for navigating between the different windows. They become very important when I work in maximized editor mode.
CTRL+1 - Project Window
CTRL+2 - Files Window
CTRL+3 - Favorite Window
CTRL+4 - Output Window
CTRL+5 - Services window
CTRL+6 - Tasks Window
8. ALT+INSERT Generate Code
When I need to generate getter setters or constructors this key combination brings the Code Generation menu
9. ALT+F7 Find Usages
Many a times I want to track all the occurrences of a particular method call. Who is calling my method. This Find Usages dialog comes handy in such times.
10. CTRL+F4 Close Editor Window and CTRL+SHIFT+F4 Close All Editor Windows
I use these keys often to close my editor windows and save many mouse clicks.
