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 CSE 143 Autumn 2002 -- Computing at Home
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Introduction

This document should help you get set up for working on a home computer.  You'll need to install the following (free!) software:
  1. The Java SDK
  2. BlueJ: a Java development environment (or DrJava, an open-source IDE).  It's also possible to get by without either.
  3. Local CSE142/143 libraries

Please also read our comments about libraries you may find with various Java books.

We're not particularly religious about which development environment you use.  You can do many of the assignments in this class with very simple tools -- see the end of the document for a low-tech (yet surprisingly powerful and useful) approach -- or with other Java 2 programming environments like JBuilder, CodeWarrior, and so forth.  You can't use Microsoft J++; however; although it is a well-designed Java environment, it has not been updated in several years and does not support the current version of the the Java language and libraries.

If you want to work at home, you are on your own to some extent in terms of getting stuff set up. Ask friends, read documentation, post a question on the bulletin board, ask us -- but we can't be guaranteed to have an answer. Ultimately you're on your own with your home computer. The lab is always available as a fallback.

Regardless of the development environment that you use, the code you turn in should only rely on the standard Sun Java libraries, and libraries that are distributed by us. Your code should not rely on "wizards", special libraries that might be provided with your environment, or code that comes from the Internet or friends.  The programs you give us will be compiled and run using our set-up.

Java SDK

You must first install the Java 2 Platform from Sun Microsystems.  It's the Standard Edition, version 1.4 or to be precise, 1.4.0_02 -- Sun keeps releasing bug fixes with new numbers.  CAREFUL!  The current Sun version, and the default when you go to the download web page, is 1.4.1.  This version apparently does not properly with Bluej, especially on Windows XP.  Make sure you load 1.4.0_02.

Go visit the Java2 home page (really, the page where  you can download the SDK1.4 from). Currently, the Java 2 SDK can be installed and run on Windows 95/98/NT/W2000, as well as a variety of Unix variants, including Linux and Sun/Solaris. Java 2 version 1.3 is included with Mac OS X, so you should be able to run the course software on OS X without having to install Java 2 first.  Java 2 is not available for the classic Mac OS (OS 9 and earlier).

The distribution is big, roughly 31MB, so if you're connecting by slow modem, it's going to be a pain. DSL or CableModem users should have an easier time. The CD provided with many books includes the Java 2 SDK. To install, double-click on the j2sdk-XXX.exe installer program that you downloaded from Sun, or that's on the CD supplied with the book, and then follow the instructions. A couple of notes:

  • The CD version might be earlier than Java 1.4. If it is, don't use it.  We will begin to use some 1.4 features early in the course.
  • You must install into a location where the pathname has NO spaces. For example, don't use C:\Program Files\etc\etc, but instead something like C:\sdk1.4.0 or C:\j2sdk1.4.0_02 (the default names picked by the SDK installer). Sometimes other software is not very tolerant of the spaces in the pathname.  Our course software doesn't seem to have a problem with spaces in path names, but some Unix-based tools have problems.
  • It's also worth writing down the name of the directory where you install the SDK when you do it (e.g. "C:\j2sdk1.4.0_02"). You'll need to enter this when you install BlueJ, below.
  • Be sure you install the Java Standard Edition Software Development Kit (J2SE™ SDK), formerly known as the Java Development Kit (JDK). .  There is a smaller package called the Java Runtime Environment (JRE), which is a subset of the SDK that includes files needed to run, but not create, Java programs.  The JRE is not adequate for our purposes -- be sure to get the SDK.
  • A large part of the SDK distribution is source code.  If disk space is limited on your computer, you don't need to install the source code, or the native library header files, or the demos; only the program files.  (You'll eventually get the option of what you want to install when you run the j2sdk-XXX.exe installer program that you downloaded from Sun.)
  • Go to Sun's Java 2 SDK documentation page and bookmark it.  If disk space is not a problem on your machine, download and install the documentation from Sun.  The part you'll probably use the most is the Java 2 Platform API Specification, referred to by most people as "the Javadoc for the standard Java libraries."

BlueJ

  1. Be sure you have installed the Sun SDK first.
  2. BlueJ is available from www.bluej.org.  Download the bluej.jar file from their distribution page. Unless your instruction suggests otherwise, go for the most recent BlueJ version..  The download is around 1MB, so it's reasonable to download even over a modem. The bluej.jar file can be placed anywhere. (Note: Bluej is updated fairly frequently; it may be necessary to install a later version even this quarter).
  3. On most systems, once the Java SDK has been successfully installed, you can install Bluej by simply double-clicking the bluej.jar.  You can install this anywhere; for the rest of these instructions, we'll assume that you're installing it in C:\CSE\tools\bluej.  There may be a bug in the installer that prevents the browse button from working properly; if so, you'll have to manually enter C:\CSE\tools\bluej in the field for the install directory name.  You also have to say where you installed the Java JDK, e.g., C:\jdk1.4.
  4. In addition to its features as an environment for writing and debugging programs, Bluej has two other features worth exploring.  One is the ability to create Javadoc documentation files from your Java source files.  The other is the ability to package an entire project as a .jar file.  Some projects in the course may require you to do one or the other of these.

Special Libraries for CSE142/143

  1. The library uwcse.jar contains class for I/O and graphics.  In general, the classes are much quicker and easier to use than the native Java libraries.  Download the uwcse.jar file; the recommended place for it is in the directory C:\CSE\lib\.  It is not necessary to unpack the file.
  2. You must have the Sun SDK and BlueJ successfully installed before continuing.
  3. Open C:\CSE\tools\bluej and click on bluej.bat to start BlueJ.  (If you get an out-of-environment-space error, repeat the technique from step 6 above to increase the .bat file's environment space.) You need to tell BlueJ where it can find the CSE142/143 library file.  Do the following:
    1. Choose Tools>preferences and click on the Libraries tab in the dialog box that opens.
    2. Click add and then navigate to and select the file C:\CSE\lib\uwcse.jar. Click open (or double-click on uwcse.jar), then click ok.
    3. Click ok once more and then quit BlueJ.  Restart Bluej to put the change into effect.
The course software should be installed at this point.  If you'd like, you can create shortcuts to files bluej.bat and jeva.bat, which you could put in more convenient places, like the desktop.  Be sure to create shortcuts; don't move the .bat files themselves. If you move them, things are likely to break.

DrJava

This program is quite new.  It is similar to Bluej in spirit.  Bluej and DrJava each have features the other lacks.  We haven't written special instructions yet for DrJava, but if you want to try it, go to the DrJava web site.  You want the latest drjava-stable release.  Like Bluej, DrJava requires that you first have the Java SDK installed.

Textbook Libraries

As you read the textbook, you may come across references to special Java libraries and sample code that the textbook authors have created.  You do not need these for CSE142/143.   Please do not use them for assignments that you turn in.  Of course, you are welcome to study the code samples in the textbook.  As you do, please keep in mind that they may use features or libraries which will not be discussed in our course.

Geek Power: Use the Command Prompt

If you install the Java SDK on your home machine, you can actually build really interesting programs without any extra software. The SDK comes with a compiler, javac that you can use to compile programs, and a functional debugger, called jdb. You'll want to use a good editor to write your programs, the best of which is emacs (read more about emacs). There is a better (faster) compiler available called jikes, from IBM. The advantage of using this approach is while it may not be quite as easy as an integrated environment, you'll learn to use some tools that you can use in many other contexts as well.

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