I am starting college this August and in my first computer science course, we are learning Java. I already know how to program in C and C++ and I''ve heard that Java is very object-oriented. I know I need to download the Java SDK at Sun.com, but I was wondering which IDE is the best to use. Also, I want to get a head start before school and I was wondering where the best place to go to get the basics down is. Any tutorials are ok, and I''m not specifically looking for gaming tutorials, just the basics.

Personally I''ve developed for years with little more than simple text editors ( jEdit, emacs, pico, vi, notepad ). So take that as it may, I find that I get to know the code better if I can see all of it at once.

I''m just starting out as well. I can however tell you what you will *need*... First download GetRight or another download program that supports resume (unless you have a fast connection...) Install that.

Now download the SDK itself... at
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/download-windows.html
skip past the I.d.e.s for now... just get the sdk..

Now download this file which is the Java Tutorial in html format. Pretty nice.
ftp://ftp.javasoft.com/docs/tutorial.zip

Then, go here
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.3/docs.html
where you will find the link to Download the api documentation for the SDK. VERY nice. took me a while to find it...

now.. finally, once you have everything installed... make sure that you install the SDK documentation in your JAVASDK folder...
the java tutorial can go anywhere.... now, go to jcreator.com
and get jcreator. it is written in c++ so it is faster than all oof the java ides. plus it is very nice. wee. but there is no gui designer thing. if i were you i would make that my first project.
have fun...

G''day.

Just to add to the other poster''s excellent suggestions, here is a rather nifty site, that you should check out:
http://www.perryland.com/Java9.shtml

Also, in my opinion Borland''s JBuilder series is an excellent IDE, and I think (not entirely sure) they have a free version at their site.

Cheers, JP.

==============================================
I feel like a kid in some kind of store...
==============================================
www.thejpsystem.com

When you get to college you might want to check out if they have a microsoft technology group or something like that, because at my school they give you all kinds of free stuff like pretty much anything ms makes. I got a free copy of visual studio professional edition from them. So I use their J++. You might also want to check out the articles on this site if you haven''t already.

-lao

I agree with farmersckn, I have been using Jcreator for a few months now and I really like it, plus it''s free.

nowan

Hi!

There are "light" versions of two commercial IDE´s for Java:

JBuilder (from Borland)
Forte For Java (from Sun)

I use JBuilder at work and Forte for Java at home. I think that JBuilder is a little easier to get started with, but Forte is more powerful.

Regards
Johan