Installing Eclipse and the UW java Library

 

Introduction

This document should help you get set up for working on a home computer. If you want to have the same setup at home as at school, you'll need to install the following software:

  1. Eclipse from eclipse.org
  2. UW library

There are also other environments that you can use as well,such as NetBeans, DrJava, JGrasp (it comes with a very cool debugger), BlueJ (a simpler environment) and so forth. 

If you want to work at home, you are on your own to some extent in terms of getting stuff set up. Ask friends, read documentation, ask me in class-- but you can't be guaranteed to have an answer. Ultimately you're on your own with your home computer. The lab is always available as a fallback.

Regardless of the development environment that you use, the code you turn in should only rely on the standard Oracle Java libraries, and the UW library. Your code should not rely on "wizards", special libraries that might be provided with your environment, or code that comes from the Internet or friends.  The programs you give us will be compiled and run using the school set-up.

Installing Java

Eclipse needs a recent Java Runtime Environment (JRE) to run. You can download the latest version of Java at http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp.

 

Eclipse

Go visit the eclipse page. Click on the" Download" button and run the eclipse installer on your computer. Select the "Eclipse IDE for Java Developers" package and follow the instructions thereafter to complete the installation.

 

UW library (for CSC 142 , not needed for CSC 143)

  1. Be sure you have already installed the Eclipse IDE (see above)
  2. Download the following file and save it to your computer (e.g. in C:\CSC):  uwcse.jar
  3. Start Eclipse by clicking on the eclipse.exe file (within your eclipse download). Select File>New>New JavaProject. A project dialog box appears. In the textfield at the top, give a name to your project (your choice, e.g. myProject). Leave all of the options as they are and click Next. Select the Libraries tab, and click on "Add External JARs...". Navigate to the location of the UW library file, select the file, and click Open. Close the Project dialog box by clicking Finish.