NetBeans basics: what are projects for?

[Mr. Kite]

I'm using NetBeans for small stuff at school. Is there any compelling
reason to use more than just the "default" project? I won't have so
many different classes that they would get overwhelming in the
Explorer.

So if I just use one project for everything, I see all my old files, my
preferences and settings stay the same, and I don't have to worry about
different projects. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance.