Re: What are options for Java development envrionments?

From: Scott Ellsworth (scott_at_alodar.com)
Date: 07/27/04 

Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 19:33:48 -0700

In article <Xns953130E5A5A83jbonduecom@216.168.3.44>,
 James Bond <jbond@ue.com> wrote:

> I am interested in getting started in java, and am curious about my options
> regarding a java development environment.

Unless you are running on a Mac or on VMS where no Sun offering exists,
you probably should download the Sun JDK. You may well want to use
other tools and environments as well, but having the reference from Sun
available makes it easy to test your code against the standard.

Also, if you end up having a problem with your code, it is very handy to
be able to compile it with the Sun complier and run it with the Sun
runtime. This will almost always show that the problem really lies in
your code, and not in the environment, but it is nice to be sure. (To
put that in perspective - I have been programming in Java since 1.1 was
quite new, and I have only found two bugs in the VM/Runtime. Both were
fixed in later releases, sometimes later releases that had already
shipped.)

> Most of the FAQs I have found
> just tell me to download Sun's SDK. While I am happy to do so, I am just
> wondering if that is my only option.

Most professional java programmers who use the Sun JDK also use ANT to
manage the build process. This tool lets you specify how you want your
code packaged and built, and is a pretty useful tool even if you end up
using some IDE for your day to day development.

That said, virtually every professional developer I know also uses an
IDE, sometimes in preference to, and sometimes in place of the pure Sun
jdk. Not because the JDK is bad, but because a good IDE can save you a
lot of time. I have used both Eclipse (free) and IDEA (pay) for my work.

> Also, what about Microsoft's J++ and
> J#? I gather that they are supposed to at least be java-like, but how
> similar are they?

Not at all. There are similarities, but the aim of both of these tools
are to get you to move to .NET and C#. If you want to do C#, then learn
that language and use it - it has use cases where it is appropriate. If
you want to do Java, then pick tools that understand and use the Java
language. These tools may not come from Sun - IBM is a major force
behind Eclipse, and Borland produces JBuilder. BlueJ and IDEA are both
by small third party developers.

> If not very similar, then is there a java "module" for
> MS Visual Studio.NET (I know I have seen some 3rd party products that are
> add-ons for VS.NET for languages not inherently supported by VS.NET, like
> FORTRAN).

I know of no add on for Studio that gives you real Java, but that does
not mean there is not one. I suspect, though, that the potential market
- Java programmers who prefer the VS envirnoment - is fairly small,
given that the VS environment is now pretty focussed around C#.

Scott

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