As a follow on to yesterday's blog entry, here's the equivalent starter application for GeoToolkit (also known as Geotk) on the NetBeans Platform, which ends up looking like this:

The above is a border.shp file I found on-line, while here's a USA states shape file rendered in the application:

Note that the navigation bar is also included, though that could later be migrated into the menu bar of the NetBeans Platform. 

Download the Maven based NetBeans Platform application with GeoToolkit integration here:

http://java.net/projects/nb-api-samples/sources/api-samples/show/versions/7.3/tutorials/geospatial/geotoolkit/MyGeospatialSystem

It was quite tricky getting this sample together, parts of it, especially the installer, which creates the database, comes from the Puzzle GIS project, while the files come from on-line locations, with the JAI-related dependencies providing problems of their own. But it's definitely a starting point and you now have the basic Maven structure needed for getting started with GeoToolkit in the context of all the services and components provided by the NetBeans Platform. 

Many thanks to Johann Sorel for his patience and help.