Welcome to my Java course!
So, to start things off, Java is an object-oriented programming language that has been used by many programmers for applications, games, and other software. It's been used in NASA to program its spacecrafts, among other useful uses.
Since its debut in 1995, Java remains one of the world's most popular programming languages, and you'll learn how to use it!
Let's go over some things which I want y'all to know before we begin:
What is a computer program? A computer program is an instruction given to a computer in the form of source code that tells the computer what to do. Computer programs can be written in a variety of programming languages, such as Python, Ruby, SmileBASIC, and Java, the language we will be covering.
Java is a "compiled" language, which means that it must be compiled into a special type of machine code called ByteCode which can be understood by the computer. Let's find how how the compilation process works.
You start by writing the source code. The source code gets compiled by the compiler (naturally) into ByteCode, which is then sent to the computer. And voila, your program starts running!
A cool thing about Java is that it can be used on virtually all operating systems, such as Windows, Mac OS, Linux, you name it. That way, you can run and compile your Java programs on any computer (except Babbage's calculating machines, lol)! It's also the language responsible for the Android operating system.
Here are the things which you'll need to get before we begin programming:
1. An IDE: IDE is short for Integrated Development Environment. Just think of it as a text editor specifically made for programming. There are a lot of helpful tools which are in IDEs. I use the Eclipse IDE for Java, and personally, I recommend you download it.
2. The JDK: JDK is short for Java Development Kit. It is a software development kit (SDK) that is specifically made for Java and used for the Java SE, EE, and ME platforms.
Here's how to download the JDK: scroll down to the box of downloads called: Java SE Development Kit 8u65. Accept the licence agreement. Select the download which matches your computer processor. Continued...
For example, if your Windows computer has an x64-based processor, then you download the x64 version. If you're on Windows, you can find out what type of processor you have by going to Control Panel --> System and Security --> System. Unfortunately, I don't have Solaris, Mac OS, or Linux, so you have to find out where you can locate your processor details if you have one of those OSs. Continued...
The IDE is the software in which you write your code. I really don't have a good explanation on what the JDK is for, but you can go to its Wikipedia page to find out?
Nevertheless, they are both vital to Java programming.
Continued from directions...
A wizard will pop up once the download has completed. Make sure you install the JDK into a folder where you know it is in there. Complete the requirements that the installation wizard will give you.
After you complete the wizard, go to the folder in which you installed JDK. Inside the folder, you'll see another folder called bin. Continued...
Click on that bin folder, and once inside, click on the address bar. Copy the address that is already in the address bar. Then, if you're on Windows, go back to System in the Control Panel. On the left side of the page you'll see something called: "Advanced System Settings." Click on that. Continued...
Under the Advanced tab, click on "Environment Variables" on the bottom. When the window pops up, click on any of the two New buttons. Another window will now ask for the variable name and value. Set the name as PATH or Path, and paste the bin address into the value box. Now close all the windows by clicking OK.
Whew! And that's how you set up the JDK!
Here are the links for Eclipse and the JDK. Just a reminder that you can download any other IDE that you feel is right for you, but in my opinion, Eclipse is the best choice.
Eclipse: eclipse[DOT]org/downloads/packages/eclipse-ide-java-developers/lunasr2
JDK: oracle[DOT]com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/jdk8-downloads-2133151[DOT]html
This post was made as an introduction to Java and setting up. In the next post, I will demonstrate how to write a Hello World program! See you there, Miiverse!
