Software Tools
Windows Platform
You will need Microsoft Windows 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, W2K, or XP. There is an experimental version of the JDK that runs under Windows 3.1, but it only supports Java 1.0. You will not be able to complete the course using the Windows 3.1 version of Windows or using a version of Windows NT earlier than 4.0.
Compilers & Development Tools
You will learn how to download, install, and setup the Java Development Kit [JDK] in the second week of class; you don't need to do it ahead of time.
Your development environment must support Java 1.1. You can use Java 2 if you like, but we won't be using any of the Java 2 features in this class. [We will preview of some of the new Java 2 features later in the course.] Here are several versions of the JDK that you can use.
- Version 1.1.2 of the Sun JDK is the version on the CD that comes with your book.
- Version 1.1.8 is the latest version of the Java 1.1 line as of December, 2004.
- Version 1.3.1 is the current shipping version of what Sun calls the Java 2 Platform.
- You can use Microsoft's Java SDK.
Here are links to each of these. [I'll include the links in the appropriate lessons as well.]
You can also use the built-in Microsoft VM, along with the IBM Jikes compiler, without installing a separate JDK/SDK. Since most of the JDKs are a 10-30MB download, you might prefer to do this. You'll find instructions on how to do this in the online lessons.
Text Editor/IDE
This class we will be using the JCreator Java Development Environment. JCreator is free for the "limited" edition. You may purchase the Pro version (ask about academic pricing) which offers features like "code completion".
If you don't want to use JCreator, you can also write your Java programs using a regular text editor. In Windows, you can use Notepad or DOS Edit, but a better solution is to use the Scintilla text editor. In Unix, you'll use vi, emacs, pico, or joe.
Browsers
You probably should have both versions on your machine, if you want to develop with Java. Both Communicator and Microsoft's IE, version 4.0 and later, generally support Java 1.1 very well. I have not tried Netscape 6, which supports Java 2 via the Sun Java2 Plugin.
FTP Client
You can use the built-in Windows FTP client by using a DOS window. You will learn how to use the DOS FTP client as one of your Lesson 1 assignments. Many of you may prefer a graphical FTP client, however. The Limited Edition of WS_FTP is free to students, as is the FTP Explorer.
Macintosh Platform
You can complete this course using the Macintosh. To do so, you'll need to download the latest version of Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Apple Java developer tools. As with the Windows platform, these tools are free.
You can get them (and a host of other helpful information) at: http://devworld.apple.com/java/.
To use Java on the Mac, you must download and install both the Macintosh Runtime for Java [MRJ] as well as the MRJ Software Development Kit [MRJ-SDK].
I've done this a couple times, and I have had the best luck first downloading and installing the MRJ from http://apple.com/java/, [rather than from the developer page], and then going and getting the SDK from the developer page.
You'll also need MS Internet Explorer as well. You can set IE so that it uses the MRJ as its Java Virtual Machine. [It is possible that you can use Communicator 4.61, but after searching their Web site for several hours, I was unable to determine if the new Java 1.1 support applies to the Mac version.]
If you work on the Mac, you should be able to use SimpleText as your text editor, but you'll probably have better luck using the BareBones Lite editor.
Other Platforms
For Linux, you can now get the latest version of the Java 2 Platform SDK from Sun. You might prefer the IBM version of the JDK which is available for both Java 1.1 and Java 2.
In addition, Sun maintains a list of Java Platform Ports you may be interested in if your computer system is a little more exotic.
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