Choosing a Development Environment | Core Java(TM) 2, Volume I--Fundamentals (7th Edition) (Core Series) (Core Series)

If your programming experience comes from using Microsoft Visual Studio, you are accustomed to a development environment with a built-in text editor and menus to compile and launch a program along with an integrated debugger. The basic JDK contains nothing even remotely similar. You do everything by typing in commands in a shell window. We tell you how to install and use the basic JDK because we have found that the full-fledged development environments don't necessarily make it easy to learn Java they can be complex and they hide some of the interesting and important details from the programmer.

Integrated development environments tend to be more cumbersome to use for a simple program because they are slower, require more powerful computers, and often require a somewhat tedious project setup for each program you write. These environments have the edge if you write large Java programs consisting of many source files, and they integrate tools such as debuggers and version control systems. We show you how to get started with Eclipse, a freely available development environment that is itself written in Java. Of course, if you prefer a different development environment such as NetBeans or JBuilder that supports the current version of Java, then you can certainly use it with this book.

For simple programs, a good middle ground between command-line tools and an integrated development environment is an editor that integrates with the JDK. On Linux, our preferred choice is Emacs. On Windows, we also like TextPad, an excellent shareware programming editor for Windows with good Java integration. Finally, JEdit is an excellent cross-platform alternative. Using a text editor with JDK integration can make developing Java programs easy and fast. We used that approach for developing and testing most of the programs in this book. Because you can compile and execute source code from within the editor, it can become your de facto development environment as you work through this book.

In sum, you have three choices for a Java development environment:

Use the JDK and your favorite text editor. Compile and launch programs in a shell window.
Use an integrated development environment such as Eclipse, or one of many other freely or commercially available development environments.
Use the JDK and a text editor that is integrated with the JDK. Emacs, TextPad, and JEdit are so integrated, as are many others. Compile and launch programs inside the editor.