I have a NetBeans project which is controlled by a Git repository. I am using one GitHub project as a dependency ; when I began the project I was new to Git so I just cloned the dependency, took the source code and put it as a package as if it was my own.

Now that I'm a little bit more experienced with Git, I'd like to have the dependency as a git submodule, so I can use it, easily update it, and have everything in one place so end-users (my project is an API) won't need to clone the dependency as a side project.

I discovered submodules from [the SVN guide](https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Submodules) ; so I made a new branch, deleted the dependency package and initialized the submodule, then opened NetBeans, but NetBeans just doesn't see it.

I was expecting the submodule to show up in some place like the library list, but it surely isn't there.

After research on the NetBeans forums, I have noticed that they never mention submodules in the documentation.

So, is it possible to use submodules in NetBeans ? I am not searching for anything complicated, just keeping my project and the dependency separated. I am not planning to do anything other than to compile the dependency (ie. no modifications), but I'd rather keep this doable if possible. And if this is not possible under NetBeans, what is the closest to achieve this goal ? (I have heard about Maven but have no knowledge whatsoever of what it is)

Related links : [The project I'm talking about (GitHub)](https://github.com/CLOVIS-AI/Telegram), [the dependency (GitHub)](https://github.com/ralfstx/minimal-json)

[EDIT]
After checking, my problem does not come from the git command line (the git submodule is initialized as it should in the project folder), but rather seems to be a NetBeans configuration issue. Based on the error ("package ... not found" on every import), I guess that NetBeans just doesn't know where to find the submodule's source. I have tried to add the submodule manually to the libraries by right-clicking the 'libraries' folder in the IDE then 'add project/folder'. I have tried this for various folders in the submodule, but none seem to let NetBeans find the source (it is in there though). [Here is the link to the dependency, maybe there's something specific about how the folders are laid down, I don't know. (from GitHub)](https://github.com/ralfstx/minimal-json)