ITI 1120

Working on your own computer:

 

To work on your own computer, you will need:

 

 

You should also get:

 

 

Any program that can create text files (even Notepad) can be used as a text editor to create Java programs, as long as you have the Java Development Kit.  However, many people prefer using an application intended to create program files because they can be set up to do proper code indentation automatically, and even compile and run programs directly from the editor.  The “Dr. Java” environment is installed in the labs, and is recommended because it has enough features to make it useful, but not so many that it is difficult to use.  Plus, it is available at no charge.

 

If you have some prior experience, your major is computer science or software engineering, or you intend to do lots of programming in the future, you may wish to also see the power users section.

 

Contents of the CD included with the Textbook

 

If you purchased the recommended course textbook (or another Java book), it might include a CD with the Java Development Kit.  Insert the CD into your CD drive, and a window will appear automatically.

 

It would allow you to install JDK, the “Java Development Kit”.  When you click install, the installation program will help you install the software.  See below for more information about the Java development kit.

 

It might also prompt you to install the “jGrasp” environment (or another environment, possibly including Dr. Java).  This software provides an editor for entering Java programs, as well as additional features.  You can install and use this software if you wish, but this software will not be installed in the labs, and you are on your own for learning how to use it.

 

The Java Software Development Kit (JDK)                                                   

 

 

The Java system used in the labs for ITI 1120 is the Java 7 Platform Standard Edition.  To create programs, you will need to get the Java Development Kit (JDK).  The documentation is available on-line, but if you want to view the documentation off-line, it can also be downloaded.  There is no charge for the use of this software or documentation.

 

If you work on your own computer, be sure that your programs will run on the machines in STE 0110 / 0130 / 0131 / 2052 / 2060.  The teaching assistants will be running your assignments in one of those labs, and you are responsible to ensure that your program works in that environment. 

You should be aware that there is some confusion with the version numbers and terminology of Java installations.  When going from the previous Java version 1.4.2 to the “next” version, the new version has been identified as both 5.0 and 1.5.0.  This page will use 5, 6 or 7 as the version number.  Also, the terms SDK (Software Development Kit) and JDK (Java Development Kit) have been used interchangeably; at present, the current preferred term is JDK.

 

Use a recent JDK version available on line.  The version on the CD in the text book is OK too.  The JDK download file is a big file; a high-speed connection is highly recommended to download the file.


Go to the Java Software Development Kit download page.

·       On that page, scroll to SDK the latest stable version , and click on the download link (a version without Bundles, NetBeans, EE is sufficient).
 Any JDK > 5.0 is OK too.

 

The download file is a self-installing executable (.exe) file.  If your system will automatically execute such files, most of the work will happen automatically.    If your system does not automatically execute downloaded files, you will have to follow the complete procedure described in the installation instructions.  In either case, read the instructions carefully so that your system is set up to compile programs easily.  If you can type javac or java at a command line prompt and a list of options is given, you have installed everything correctly.  If you get a message similar to “javac is not recognized as a command (etc.)”, then the installation is not complete, and you should check if the installation instructions was done correctly.

 

Java JDK documentation

There are two types of documentation:  the Application Programmer’s Interface (API), and technical documentation about the JDK.  The Application Programmer’s Interface is the documentation you will most likely use:  it has descriptions of all the pre-defined classes and methods that come with Java.  Both types of documentation are available on line.   Unless you expect to be working off-line frequently (for example, on a portable computer), downloading the documentation is not necessary.

·       View the Application Programmer’s Interface (API) documentation.

·       View the complete JDK documentation.

 

The Dr. Java environment

 

 

Also available free of charge is “Dr. Java” environment, the editing environment provided in the SITE computer labs. Click here to go to the “Dr. Java” web page.

 

Once you are there, you will have three download options.  The recommended version is the “Windows App” (the .exe file).  Download the file and make sure to remember where you saved it on your computer.  Alternatively, you can download the .jar file (much smaller) that works if the Java Virtual Machine is already installed and accessible on your machine.

 

If you have already installed the Java software development kit, you should be able to start the Dr. Java environment by double-clicking on the icon of the file that you saved. 

 

If you installed the latest stable version, when Dr. Java starts, you should see a window similar to the following:

 

 

 

The first time you run Dr. Java, you may be asked to locate the directory in which you installed the Java Development Kit (JDK), or specify the location of a file called tools.jar.  For example, the Java JDK (update 21) might be installed in the default location of

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17

then the tools.jar file will be in

C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_17\lib.
If you installed the JDK somewhere else, then locate the tools.jar file in a folder called lib contained in the directory where you installed the JDK. 

 

You may not see the line numbers; if you want to turn them on, click on the Edit menu and select “Preferences”. In the categories area, click on “Display Options” and then check the “Show all line numbers” box.

For “power users” only:

If you have some prior experience (surfing the web or downloading MP3 files doesn’t count!), you may wish to use a more advanced environment. An "integrated development environment" (IDE) contains a collection of tools that can help you enter, run, document, test, and debug programs.  

A full-featured IDE for Java is called "Eclipse".  It is installed in the STE 0110 / 0130 / 0131 / 2052 / 2060 labs.  Eclipse assumes that you are working on a large, complex project, and so you would have to do some extra setup even to create a program that just prints "Hello!"    But, once everything is set up, you can work much faster, and there are lots of great features.  Eclipse also has “plug-ins” which allows you to add extra tools to the “basic” tool set; already there is a large number of plug-ins that can be downloaded.  If your major is software engineering or computer science, you may want to get a head start in using this environment as it may be useful for future courses. 

This IDE is recommended only for students with prior programming experience, and who intend to do serious programming some day.  If you want to download it for your own computer, be warned that it is over 105 Mb in size, and will take a very long time to download unless you have a high speed connection.  You are also on your own to learn how to use it!  (Eclipse comes with a tutorial and many help files.)

 

All software mentioned on this page is available for free download.  Please read the license agreements for terms of use.

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