CSC 108H -- Java links

DrJava

DrJava is the development environment for CSC108H this fall. It's free.

DrJava requires a Java 2 v1.3 (or later) virtual machine and software development kit (SDK). One such virtual machine/SDK is Sun's J2SE SDK --follow that link and select "DOWNLOAD" from the right-hand column that appears. Warning: this is a big download! If you want to download the Java API specifications, look at the very bottom of that page for "J2SE v 1.4.1 Documentation".

If you already have Java installed, but you've never programmed in Java, you almost certainly don't have the SDK part, and you should download and install it. Here are some installation notes for various versions of Microsoft Windows.

If you have Mac OS X, you almost certainly have the Java SDK installed, and you only need to download DrJava.

You also should download DrJava. Note that DrJava won't run unless you have a Java 2 v1.3 (or later) virtual machine already installed.

Warning: you may get a dialog saying something about a "JAR archive securty check". If you do, just right-click on the DrJava download link and select "Save Link As" (or the equivalent in your browser).

We know that all this setup can be annoying. Remember that you only have to do it once!

A common DrJava problem: finding tools.jar

Question:

I downloaded Sun's J2SE SDK and DrJava. When it came to actually running DrJava, the following window kept popping up even though somehow DrJava still managed to run without me finding the file:

Compiler not found. The file you chose did not appear to contain the compiler. Would you like to pick again? The compiler is generally located in 'tools.jar', in 'lib' subdirectory under your JDK installation director. (If you say 'No', DrJava will be unable to compile programs.).

Answer:

First, make sure you installed the Java SDK, not the JRE. (See above.)

Now you need to find a file called "tools.jar". If you're using Windows, then when you installed the SDK, you probably put it in "Program Files". The name of the Java folder is probably something like "j2sdk1.4.0_01"; look inside that for a directory called "lib", and inside "lib" look for "tools.jar".

CodeWarrior

• CSC1.1 stationery that you may want to install if you have CodeWarrior at home. This is the stationery that we use in the CDF-PC lab.
• Metrowerks, the company that makes CodeWarrior.

Java

• A very nice Java glossary. (Very useful!)
• Documentation for the Java API libraries. (Very useful!)
• Online Java language tutorial.
• How to use javadoc to document your Java programs.
• Code Conventions for Java, a comprehensive set of guidelines on programming style.
• Java examples from the 108 web site.

Java Software (some of it free)

• Here's a page for Linux Java tools.
• Here's a page for general (Windows and Mac) Java tools.
• Here's a rather overwhelming list of Java resources, both free and commercial.
• Here's a page of reviews of Java-related products by the online magazine JavaWorld. The Linux version of CodeWarrior, by the way, was reviewed by JavaWorld, and they had this to say:

  If you do choose Linux as your development platform, run -- don't walk -- to purchase Metrowerks' CodeWarrior for Linux 6.0, Professional Edition. This low cost IDE compares favorably to other IDEs available for Linux, including Sun's Forte for Java and Borland's JBuilder. And unlike its rivals, CodeWarrior supports both Java and C++ in a single product, earning it our top score of Excellent.