07 May 2004

Some Tools for Java

Rocky Wenz, Research Projects Coordinator, MAST
sas.z.thepilgrim@xoxy.net

Introduction

In the introduction to this course, I forgot to include the prerequisites. I am going to assume that you know how to use a computer fairly well. Installing software should not be a problem for you, even if the software is in a "zip file," as long as there are instructions for it. Understanding the nature of file systems, directories and files is required. There will be reading assignments, so reading English should not be a problem.

The Tools and Thinking for Programming in Java

If you are going to program in Java, you are going to need tools.  In this installment, I will show you where to get the tools and what tools to get.  Before getting into that, I need to cover some ideas about how programmers think.

Programmers have lots of long names for things. This is because they deal with lots of technical issues that require long, exacting names, like "Java 2, Standard Edition," and "Software Development Kit." Because of this, and because they don't want to type out those long names all the time, programmers often use abbreviations. You are going to need to know some of these as you attempt to get your tools. So instead of "Java 2, Standard Edition," you will usually see J2SE. A "Software Development Kit" is an SDK. An "Application Programming Interface" is an API.

The first tool you will need is Java itself. (Macintosh users: The rest of this article does not apply to the Mac. Please go to http://developer.apple.com/sdk/index.html and click on "Mac OS Runtime for Java 2.2 SDK.") This comes bundled with the SDK (Software Development Kit).  Here is how to get it: Go to http://java.sun.com/j2se/index.jsp. Click on the link under "Here are the releases of the J2SE platform:" that says "J2SE 1.4.2".  Then click on the link, currently under "What's New" that reads "Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition version 1.4.2."  

On the page that appears are a number of tools for programming Java that you may want to explore.  Right now, though, we want the SDK.  Look for the section labeled "J2SE v 1.4.2_04  SDK includes the JVM technology."  This is not the section labeled "J2EE 1.4." Click on the link at the bottom of the section that reads "Download J2SE SDK."  At this point, you might get an error if you are not using Internet Explorer.  If so, try Internet Explorer or another browser.  

On the page that appears, read and accept the license agreement. Click the Continue option. Then scroll down the next page to the section that has the heading "Java(TM) 2 SDK, Standard Edition 1.4.2_04."  Find the sub-section for your operating system. Click on the line describing the file you want to download, and the download process should start. Windows users, either file will work, but you will need to be online when you run the smaller one. Don't forget where you placed the downloaded file on your hard drive.

During the install you will be given the chance to not install certain parts of the package. The default is to install everything, which will work fine. However, you can save a little space on your hard drive (and perhaps download time) by choosing to not install the "Source Code."    

Closing Thoughts

That's it for this column. Next time, we will talk about riding bicycles and programming languages.

Exercise

1. Find, download and install the "J2SE v 1.4.2 Documentation."
2. Test your installation. Go to this web site: www4.passur.com/bct.html . You should see a map appear. If so, it is working.

Created by Mathematica  (April 22, 2004).