CSC 148H: Java links

This course uses Java version 1.5.

As part of autotesting your assignment submissions, we will recompile your work and run it. When we do that, we'll use Java 1.5 -- also known as 5.0. The textbook also discusses Java 1.5, and we will discuss some of the changes in version 1.5 during lectures. If you want to work at home, you should also use version 1.5. of Java.

Windows users

You need two things: a Java compiler such as J2SE v 1.5, and DrJava.

Mac OS X users

You already have Java installed on your Mac, but make sure you have Java 5.0 (or Java 1.5, which is the same thing).

You need DrJava. Download the Jar file or the Mac OS X App (for the "Current Stable Release").

If you have more than one version of the JDK on your computer, you may need to change the order they are considered so that Java 5.0 is first. Use the "Java Preferences" utility, under "Java" in the Utilities folder.

Other operating systems

You need two things: a Java compiler such as J2SE v 1.5, and DrJava.

A common DrJava problem: finding tools.jar

(This is an old answer -- it still refers to Java 1.4 -- but the problem may still arise.)

Question:

I downloaded Sun's J2SE JDK 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 JDK, 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 JDK, 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".

Java

Here are some general Java resources, including documentation.

Java Software (some of it free)