DirectionsforinstallingJava&BlueJonWindowsorLinux(Jan.29,2009)
Step1InstallingJavaonaWindowsorLinuxcomputerTheJavalanguageishousedonSunMicrosystemsservers.Usingawebbrowser,youshouldvisitthefollowingwebsite:http://java.sun.com/Thewebpageshouldappearsomethinglikethefollowingpicture.Youwanttoinstallthestandardedition("SE"inSun'sterminology).TodothisclickonthelinknamedJavaSEandcircledintheimageabove.Theresultingpageisadownloadpagethatshouldappearsimilartotheoneshownonthenextpageofthisdocument.
YouwillbeinstallingtheJavaDevelopmentKit(called"JDK"atthewebsite).ThecurrentversionofthissoftwareisVersion6,Update16‐thedevelopmentkit,notjusttheruntimeenvironment.ClicktheDownloadbuttoncircledabove.Nowyoushouldseethefollowingpage.Fromthispageyoumustselectyourtypeofcomputer(either"Windows"forXPandVista,or"Linux"or"Solaris"Ifyouhavea64‐bitprocessororanItanium,youneedtoselectoneoftheseoptions.Youmustalsoclickonthe"IagreetotheJavaSEDevelopmentKit6LicenseAgreement"(circledabove)beforeclickingthe"Continue"button.Clickingonthejdk‐6u16‐...linkonthenextpagewillcausetheJavaDevelopmentKittobedownloadedtoyourcomputer.Youmustthenfollowtheinstallationinstructions,double‐clickingthedownloadedfileifitdoesn'tautomaticallybegintheinstall.
Step2InstallingBlueJTheBlueJIDEislocatedatthefollowingwebsite:http://bluej.org/Thetopofthispageisshownbelow:
Ontheleftsideofthepageisamenu.Selectthedownloadoption(circledabove)fromthismenu.Onthenextpageyouneedtoclickthelinkforthepropersystemlistedin"Step2".onthewebpageThiswebpagealsohasalinktothedirectionsforcompletingthisinstallation.Step3InstallingJavadocumentation(optional)TheJavalanguageincludesarichcollectionofstandardclassesthatyoucanuseinyourprograms.Theseclasses(alsoknownasan"ApplicationProgrammingInterface"orAPI)aredescribedintheAPIspecifications.Youcanaccessthisdocumentationonlineatthefollowingwebsite:http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/api/Ifyoudon'thavefastInternetaccessorjustwanttostoreyourowncopy,youcanalsodownloadallofthisdocumentationontoyourowncomputer.Todownloadthedocumentation,proceedtotheJavaSEDownloadswebpageasshowninStep2(seethesecondwebpageimageinthisdocument).Thistimeyoumustscrolldownthepageabitfarthertothe"JavaSEDocumentation"sectionandclickthe"Download"button(circledonthenextpage).Asalways,youmayneedtofollowdirectionstocompletetheinstallation‐usuallydouble‐clickingthedownloadedfile.
AknownissuewithVistaSomestudentswithVistacomputershaveexperiencedproblemswhentryingtouseBlueJforthefirsttime.Theproblemismanifestedasfollows:whenstartingBlueJ,itdoesnotdisplaytheusualwindow,butinsteadapopupwindowappearscomplainingaboutbeingunabletolocatetheJavadevelopmentfiles.ThewaytocorrecttheproblemistoclicktheBrowsebuttonthatisincludedinthepopupwindow.Fromtheresultingbrowserwindowselect/openthefilethatislocatedin C:/ProgramFiles/Java/jdk1.6.0_16/bin/javaYoushouldonlyneedtodothisthefirsttimeyouexecuteBlueJ.
