An Overview
There are two things beginning students should do -
- Install the Java Software Developer's Kit and Eclipse. *
- Study the Eclipse tutorials in order to understand Eclipse's interface and features.
* In some classes, the UML plug-in for Eclipse may be used.
Eclipse is an integrated programming environment (IDE). Students use this to write, compile, and test Java programs. To begin, go to the menu in the right sidebar and choose Installing Java. This provides links to the free software. Once installed, check the Help Links and Tutorials. The Quick Tutorial is a nutshell reference for some of the common operations performed in Eclipse.
Important - defining the workspace
When first invoking Eclipse, be sure to properly define the workspace. See the workspace tutorial for details (go to the Tutorials menu in the sidebar).