Chapter 10. Integrated Development Environments


Some people prefer glitz. The shiny sparkle has always attracted the human eye. Sometimes that sparkle is a real gem, a treasure; sometimes it's only a gum wrapper on the sidewalk. Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) add glitz to Java development. At their most basic, they combine (integrate) an editing environment with a compiler. This gives you

  • Language-specific formatting of your Java text (different colors, comments in italics, and so on)

  • Quick feedback on errors (the ability to click on a compile error message to begin editing at the offending Java statement)

  • Automatic word completion, to help you finish typing the names of methods in your Java code

  • A point-and-click GUI for that all important "modern" look-and-feel

If those were all they gave you, IDEs would be, in our opinion, leaning toward "gum wrapper." But a good IDE can be more than that. It can be extended to integrate many different tools, including:

  • Version control (e.g., CVS, see also Chapter 8)

  • One or more Web servers (e.g., Tomcat)

  • A build control mechanism (e.g., ant, see also Chapter 9)

  • Other editors besides the built-in editor

  • A specialized editor for building GUIs

  • Other languages besides Java



    Java Application Development with Linux
    Java Application Development on Linux
    ISBN: 013143697X
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2004
    Pages: 292

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