So NetBeans 7.x is out since a few months. With many new functions, new and updated plugins, a lot of bugfixes, etc. Fantastic! Go NetBeans!
And just because I’m a sucker for punishment, I open up a new PHP project, select a WordPress site where I do some plugin sandbox development, enter all the parameters NetBeans wants, and click “OK”.
And … NetBeans starts doing its normal routine of scanning the remote (via SSH) directories, asks me to confirm that I want to download some 1714 files to my local computer, and when I do (why wouldn’t I, right?), it begins its glorious work.
In the meantime, I set-up a new project using ActiveState’s Komodo 6.13 IDE, I point it to the same server and directory and click “OK”. Three seconds later, I have my project.
NetBeans you ask? Oh, it’s still downloading. My Internet connection is too slow (it’ll max out around 20 mbit/s) of course .. I should have at least 100 mbit/s, or possibly GB/s. Because if you want to do NetBeans development on remote servers and do it the “proper NetBeans way”, you STILL have to download your entire project locally.
I could live with that rather awkward way of doing things if NetBeans could only detect changes to the file(s) on the remote. As it is now, and as it has been for many years with NetBeans, it’ll simply consider itself to be the master, and overwrite whatever is on the server.
Of course I’m doing it all wrong. I should use version control, I should not expect myself to be able to use my workstation as a terminal to the server. I mean, those days are gone, right? We ARE in the MODEM ERA of Internet, where you REALLY wanted to do EVERYTHING LOCALLY due to bandwidth limitations, etc.
Oh no, wait .. this is 2011 .. everyone but your pet is connected 24/7/365.
So, I think now that NetBeans have shown (again), that they have no intention of EVER fixing this problem, I’ll just do rm -r -f and be happy. And what’s more, so will the rest of the NetBeans community, because they won’t need to listen to me whining about it 
Bye Bye NetBeans.
#NetBeans #IDE #PHP #fail #SSH #remote #development
Personally I’ve never used it with SSH, I always use FTP/SFTP when working on remote projects but that’s mostly because a lot of my clients hosting accounts don’t allow SSH.
Yes, it does take a while to download a remote project depending on how big it is, if you have ‘preserve file permissions’ enabled, if your using ‘passive’ mode (if using FTP), if the server has download throttiling etc etc.
I assume you submitted a bug report?
I’ve posted about this in the past, and I was expecting this to be fixed in a new major release. To me, it seems like a fundamental issue to be able to handle remote file systems as good as local file systems.
All this “working with local copies” isn’t bad, at all. But it should be an option, not the default.
But quite a few people are using NetBeans, so I’m guessing they don’t care about this, or don’t need these features like I do. Which is fine
There are many alternatives. I’ve been using Komodo IDE from Active State (www.activestate.com) for quite some time. It works well, I can run it under Windows and Linux. It’s not free, but it’s well worth the money I pay for it.
There will always be some lag when working with remote copies, it’s the nature of the beast – data takes time to transfer but I do see your point. Netbeans essentially downloads the entire remote project locally rather than simply editing the files directly on the remote server.
Indeed. NetBeans’ way of doing things does have its merits, but for my way of using it, it causes problems. I also want to do VC check-ins and check-outs directly on the server. So that if we have a group of people working with a projekt, we immediately get notified if someone checks out or checks in code. If I could just get this as an option, I’d be happy. NetBeans is good, there’s no doubt about that.
Just as a note, if you know there are updates you need to get you can re-download any file/folder on a remote project by from the context menu on the file/folder.
Downloading the entire project is a PITA, of course, so when it matters I only select the folders that I need to be downloaded. But as you say, if you want to work directly on the server you’re out of luck and if you need to see statuses on particular files you should use version control.