In article <1M************ ********@comcas t.com>,
af************* *************@c omcast.net writes...
I went to the sun site and downloaded what I hope is the development part of
java. I downloaded JDK5 with Netbeans. I installed it and now have a
folder in my program group "Netbeans". Is that java? Would I execute that
to create a java application?
Yes.
Netbeans and the JDK provide everything you need to write and execute
Java programs. In fact the JDK alone is all you need to write and
execute Java programs, Netbeans just provides a sophisticated GUI
environment that helps with more complex projects.
Before you jump into Netbeans, however, I suggest you start with the
very basics.
Get yourself a basic book on Java or choose one of the web based
tutorials like
http://www.iut-info.univ-lille1.fr/docs/tutorial/
Practice by writing some very basic Java programs using only a text
editor and the JDK. Once you understand how this works you will learn to
use Netbeans far more easily.
For example, here is how to do "Hello World" using only the JDK:
1) Using your favourite text editor (Notepad, Emacs, vi etc) create a
file called "hello.java ".
2) Enter the following in the file:
class hello {
public static void main(String [] args){
System.out.prin tln("Hello World");
}
}
3) Save the file
4) At a console command line type:
javac hello.java
5) Step 4 caused the Java compiler to create a file called "hello.clas s"
6) At the command line type:
java hello
7) Step 6 caused the Java Runtime to load java.class and execute it.
Note that you did not type "java hello.class" or "java hello.java" to
run the program. You just typed "java hello".
8) If you are lucky you should see the words "Hello World" appear on the
console.
The Java compiler (javac) and the Java Runtime (java) are both included
in the Java Developers Kit (JDK). While you can use only the JDK for
Java programming, for any serious development you need a GUI based
development environment, like Netbeans.
Trying to use Netbeans without learning a few simple things with the JDK
first is like trying to solve a Integral Calculus problem without
learning arithmetic first.
BTW I use Netbeans as my development environment.
I'm very happy with it.
Oh yes, you will be much happier if you download the documentation that
goes with the JDK too. Last time I looked it was a separate download.
Once downloaded and installed it the documentation becomes available to
Netbeans and this helps immensely. Netbeans will prompt you with
function parameters and descriptions if it has access to the
documentation.
--
DM
personal opinion only
