Workshop: Installing a Java Development Tool

Every hour of this tutorial ends with a workshop, a Java coding project you can undertake to enhance your knowledge of the subject matter while it percolates in your brain. However, you won't be doing any Java coding at all until you install a Java development tool on your computer. If you have a program such as Borland JBuilder, Sun NetBeans, or IntelliJ IDEA, you can use it to develop the tutorial programs in the next 23 hours. However, you should already have some familiarity with how to use the program—learning Java and a complex development tool at the same time can be daunting. If you don't have a Java development tool, or the last paragraph scared you away from using one that you own, you can use the Java Development Kit, which is available for free from Sun's Java website at http://java.oracle.com. Though the process is relatively straightforward, there are some configuration issues that cause problems for many people trying to get started with the Kit, especially on a Windows system. To find out how to download and install the Kit and fix any configuration problems that arise, read Appendix A, "Using the Java Development Kit."