Last week, I posted the first video tutorial on getting started using Liferay’s Plugin SDK environment. Today I’m posting Part 2 of the series which continues where Part 1 left off. Specifically, I show how to install and customize the SDK environment for your own use.

The video for this tutorial can be found here or by clicking the image above . The video should start automatically — but click on the ‘play’ arrow at the bottom of the video to start the tutorial if it doesn’t.

Okay, okay. I admit I started out as an Eclipse user and thought very highly of that development environment — and I still do. However, several months ago I was on a project that encouraged the use of Netbeans so I decided to fit right in and just use it.

It took some adjustment but now, several months later, I still find myself going back to Netbeans again and again. Whether developing Swing, Java Web, or Liferay Portlets, Netbeans’ platform offers such a great development and testing framework thats hard to resist. For me, its the ease of use and integration with other tools with especially tight integration with Application and Web Servers.

But the very best part: Netbean’s debugging facility is sooo easy to use that it all comes down to just clicking a button. No messy steps to find and download appropriate plugins and then hope that they’ll work. Right now I’m testing a new Spring web app with Tomcat and I must say I’m very pleased with how easy it is to test.

I know, I know. Most Eclipse users won’t be so easily swayed. But that’s their problem. As for me, I’m loving using Netbeans and if you’re reading this I invite you to give it a chance as well. I think it can only your development life easier.

So, for all you willing and open-minded souls, here’s the link to the download page: Netbeans.org. Happy hunting!

Today, I’ll begin a series of guided video tutorials geared toward helping beginners get started with Liferay Development using the Plugin SDK. The first screencast demonstrates where to find the Plugin SDK zip file needed to begin development. Subsequent tutorials will highlight other aspects of portlet development using the Plugin SDK.

Click on the image above to start the video. Click on the ‘play’ arrow at the bottom of the video to start or pause the tutorial if needed.