Software Installation

Switch to a Mono-Spaced Font

You'll find as you program that it's difficult to tell certain characters from one another, so a good mono-spaced font meant for programming will help. Read the notes on Fonts and choose a font to download and install (instructions included).

Show File Extensions

For some reason, it's the default in Windows to not show file extensions. This is a huge pain for developers because application source and bytecode files have the same names, but different extensions. Hovering over a file will usually tell you the file type but many editors also use unrecognized extensions for their backups, and these might not have any meaningful information in the hovertext. Therefore, all developers turn on the file extensions so you can quickly differentiate between the different file types:

1. Use the Windows 10 search: search for "file explorer options"
2. You should see an entry for "File Explorer Options" and the words "Control Panel" below it in smaller letters. Click File Explorer Options.
3. In the File Explorer Options dialog box, click the VIEW tab.
4. Look for the check box labeled "Hide extensions for known file types" (it's about 8 or 10 items down) and make sure it's NOT checked.
5. Click the OK button.

Create Some Course Folders

First, make sure you've created a directory/folder on your hard drive for this course (and you should have one for each of your other courses, also). DO NOT create this directory/folder in your Program Files/Java directory!!!

You will be using this directory to store class notes, programs you write in class, assignments, labs, and other files. Most students call the directory "prog10082" or "Java1".

After creating this folder, you need to add a "projects" sub-directory/sub-folder to the prog10082 directory. This is where each one of your Java projects/programs will go.

You might also wish to add a "notes" directory, "evaluations" directory for evaluations you get back, etc.

Download/Install a Compression Utility

A compression utility allows you to bundle groups of files together and to unbundle groups of files. This is required for two reasons:

• You will be submitting assignments bundled into zip/rar files.
• You will need to unbundle zip/rar files that I give you, which may contain several smaller files. Using the default windows utilty will not allow you to run bundled files.

Any Zip/Rar utility will do. WinRAR, IZArc, and 7-Zip can be downloaded for free from the Internet. If you prefer, you can download 7-Zip from Sheridan College at Sheridan College AppsAnywhere. Just log in using your Sheridan credentials and follow any instructions. You'll see 7-Zip in the list of available applications.

That's all you need for this course. We'll be getting our Java install and our development environment in the next steps.

Bookmark the Java Documentation

The Java API documentation is useful as you're learning about the different classes that make up the Java language. In many lessons we'll be looking at this documentation, so you should have it bookmarked. Your instructor or professor will let you know which version of Java you'll be using.

Using your preferred browser, go to the appropriate link below and bookmark it or add it to your "Favourites". Tip: in some browsers you can add frequently used bookmarks to one of the button bars at the top of your browser, or to the set of favourite links that appears when you open a new browser tab/window.

• Java 14 API Overview
• Java 15 API Overview
• Java 16 API Overview
• Java 17 API Overview

There are several choices for editors and IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) that you can use. For the first Java course in your program, we're going to use a very basic and simple-to use editor called Notepad++.

Download/Install Notepad++

These instructions will take you through the installation and setup of Notepad++.

1. Download the most recent Notepad++ version by going to Notepad++ Downloads and choosing the most recent version (the version numbers may vary from what is shown in the screen shot).

   

2. Clicking the appropriate link will give you a download page.

   

3. Scroll down to the section titled "Download 64-bit x64" and click on the link that says "Installer". This will prompt you to save the installer file. Put it in your Downloads directory or some other directory where you can find it later.

   

4. Once the file has downloaded, run it. This begins the installation. You'll first be asked to pick a language for the installation. Choose whatever language you are most comfortable with (this is just for the installation process, it doesn't change the language used in the editor). Then click OK.

   

5. The welcome screen appears and lets you know that you are about to configure your installation. Click the NEXT button.

   

6. The license agreement screen asks you to agree to the licensing for this software. This is typical and quite common. Click I AGREE to continue.

   

7. The next screen asks you to choose a location where Notepad++ should be installed. The default value here is fine, and you shouldn't change it unless you know what you're doing. Click the NEXT button.

   

8. The next screen gives you an opportunity to choose which parts of the program you want to install or not install. The defaults here are fine, so you can leave them alone. Click the NEXT button.

   

9. The next screen asks for a few more options. Check the box that says "Create Shortcut on Desktop" and leave the other box unchecked. Click the INSTALL button to start installing Notepad++.

   

10. The last screen lets you know that the installation was completed successfully. Make sure the box "Run Notepad++..." is checked and then click FINISH.

    

Notepad++ starts and the change log file is loaded. You can close this file, we don't need it for anything (it's only interesting to read if you've used Notepad++ before and want to know what's different in this newest version).

Some of you may wish to change the font size right away before you do anything else, so you can more easily read the Notepad++ screen. To edit your font size, go to the menu bar at the top and select Settings > Style Configurator. On the right side of the screen is a drop-down where you can change the font size. If you also decide to change the font name, make sure you stick with a mono-spaced or fixed-width font like Courier New. (Personally, I prefer Ubuntu Mono or Fira Code)

Setup Notepad++

The last set of steps we need to complete today is to set up commands that will allow us to use Notepad++ to compile and execute Java programs we write. This isn't really mandatory, but it's very convenient, so we'll do it.

First, we need to install a special plugin in Notepad++ that allows us to run other programs from within Notepad++.

1. In the menu bar at the top, select Plugins > Plugins Admin.

   

2. This opens the Plugins Admin window and shows you a list of available plugins. To make it easier to find the one we want, type nppexec in the "Search" field.

   

3. You should see the plugin titled "NppExec" come into view. Check it off and then click the INSTALL button.
4. Next, you'll receive a warning that Notepad++ needs to restart. Click YES.

   

5. Notepad++ should restart on its own. Once it restarts, go to the Plugins menu again. There should be a new item in the Plugins menu called "NppExec". If you don't see it, go back through the instructions above and make sure you read and followed them correctly.
6. We are now going to add two simple scripts that compile and execute Java programs that we write.
7. In the menu bar, select Plugins > NppExec > Execute

   

8. You should now see the Execute window. This is where you can add/modify scripts and even execute them, if you wanted to.

   

9. The first script we'll add is the script that compiles a program. The first command in this script will move to the current working directory where our source code is saved and the second command will run the compiler to compile the source code. In the big editor area of the window, enter the following:

   cd $(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)
   javac $(FILE_NAME)

   Make sure you add the line break between the two lines of code (press the ENTER key after typing the first line). The first command changes the directory to the current one where your source file has been saved. The second comman runs the Java compiler program (javac.exe) on your current source code file. This will compile your code and show you any syntax/compiliation errors. If you have no errors, it will create the bytecode file.
10. Save your script by clicking the SAVE button.
11. In the text field that appears, type Compile and then click the SAVE button under the text field.

    

12. The bytecode file is the file that you can execute by telling the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to interpret and execute each line of bytecode. This job is done with the Java interpreter program (java.exe). Let's now repeat the process to create a script that runs the Java interpreter program.
13. Use the drop-down box at the bottom of the Execute window and select "<temporary script>".
14. The editor is now blank (if not, delete the text that appears). Enter the code:

    cd $(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)
    java $(NAME_PART)
                                    

    FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS: this code is not the same as the code for the compile command!! The first line does the same thing as the first line of the previous script. It's probably not necessary most of the time, but if you compile a program, and then come back later to run it, your system directory might have changed, so it's a good idea to execute it anyway. The second line runs the interpreter program (java.exe) on the bytecode that was created from compiling the current file.
15. Press the SAVE button to save this script.
16. As before, in the text field, enter the script name. This one is called "Execute". Then click the SAVE button under the text field.

    

17. You're done, so close the Execute window by clicking the X in the top-right or clicking the Cancel button.

We now have two scripts that can comple and execute Java programs we write. However, to run these scripts, we'd have to come back to the Execute window each time. It's more convenient to add menu items and keyboard shortcuts to run these two scripts. Let's do this next.

Setting Up Macros

1. Using the menu bar again, go to Plugins > NppExec > Advanced Options This dialog is where we'll add the menu items for our two scripts.

   

2. Near the top-left of the dialog is the heading "Menu Items *". Under this is a checkbox labeled "Place to the Macros submenu". Check this box.
3. Don't close the dialog yet, we still have 2 more things to do. Next, we'll add the two submenu items for Compile and Execute.
4. In the same dialog, near the bottom on the left side, you'll see an area where you can add a menu item for a specific script you created. In the "Item Name" field, enter Compile Java.
5. In the Associated Script drop-down, select your Compile script.
6. Then click on the Add/Modify button. You'll see your compile item appear in the box above: those are the menu items that are going to be added to Notepad++'s Macro menu.

   

7. Now let's repeat the process to create an Execute Java menu item that runs the Execute script: Go to the bottom area of the dialog and change the "Item Name" field to Execute Java. In the Associated Script drop-down list, select your Execute script.

   

8. Click on the Add/Modify button to add your Execute Java item to the list above. You should now see the two items to compile and execute Java programs in the list.

   

9. Click OK to save your changes.
10. You'll get a warning that you need to restart Notepad++ to apply your changes. Click OK in the dialog, and then shut down Notepad++ and restart it.

    

11. Once Notepad++ has restarted, go to the Macros menu in the menu bar, you'll see 2 new items: Compile Java and Execute Java.
12. For convenience, it would be nice to associate shortcut keys with these 2 items. You don't have to if you don't want to, but it's definitely faster to use shortcut keys once you memorize them and get used to them.
13. In the menu bar, select Settings > Shortcut Mapper

    

14. In the Shortcut Mapper dialog, select the "Plugin Commands" tab along the top.
15. To make it easier to find your menu items, type "java" in the "Filter" text field near the bottom of the dialog box. You should see both your menu items appear in the list. If you don't see them, go back and make sure you've read and followed all the instructions correctly.

    

16. Select the Compile Java item in the list and then select the MODIFY button (or you can double-click the item). We'll set the shortcut for Compile Java to Ctrl-Shift-C
17. In the little dialog, check off the boxes for CTRL and SHIFT, then select the letter "C" in the drop-down list. When you're finished, click OK.

    

18. Make sure the message near the bottom of the screen says "No shortcut conflicts for this item". If it says anything else, you'll need to change the shortcut to something else (use whatever works for you as long as it's not an existing shortcut).
19. Repeat for the Execute Java item: Select it and click MODIFY, or double-click the item. We'll set the shortcut to Ctrl-Shift-E, so check off the boxes for CTRL and SHIFT, then select the letter "E" in the drop-down list. When you're finished, click OK.

    

20. You now have menu items along with keyboard shortcuts that will allow you to compile and execute Java programs from inside Notepad++. Click the CLOSE button on the Shortcut Mapper window.
21. Check your Macro menu now: you can see both menu items and their shortcut keys.

    

Let's test everything out and see if it worked.

Testing

You should already have a new file open in Notepad++, but if not, just use the NEW icon in the button bar (it's the first button) or use the File > New menu items.

In your new, empty file, copy and paste the following code:

public class Testing {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
	
		System.out.println("Hello, World!");
	}
}

Use the SAVE option (File > Save or File > Save As, or you can use the SAVE button in the button bar (it's the third button)) to save your file as Testing.java

The file name is case-sensitive: the T must be upper-case and everything else must be lowercase. You must include the lowercase .java file extension.

DO NOT save your file in the Notepad++ directory, and DO NOT save it to your Desktop!!

Take the time to go and create a directory for this course and add a "projects" subdirectory to it, and then save your file there. You will be creating several files every lesson, and it's important to keep them organized so that you can easily find them at any time.

NOTE: Changing the console font If you find the font in the console area is too small, you can make it larger (and even change the actual font name/family. In the Notepad++ menu, select Plugins > NppExec > Change Console Font. The default font "System" has a limited size on some systems, so if you want a larger font size, just change to a different mono-spaced/fixed-width font such as Courier New, Lucida Console, Ubuntu Mono, or Fira Code. Then you can change to a larger size.

Now try your menu items:

• First, use Macro > Compile Java or use the Ctrl-Shift-C keyboard shortcut.
• This should compile the code you were given. The code has no errors, so you shouldn't get any (if you do, perhaps you hit a key by accident - copy and paste the code again, and don't forget to save your file before you compile).
• You should see a little console window open along the bottom of your screen, and it should contain text such as:

  NPP_EXEC: "Compile"
  CD: C:\Users\Wendi\Google Drive\~Work\!!Winter2020\Java1\projects\_examples\Testing.java
  Current directory: C:\Users\Wendi\Google Drive\~Work\!!Winter2020\Java1\projects\_examples
  javac Testing.java
  Process started (PID=20472) >>>
  <<< Process finished (PID=20472). (Exit code 0)
  ================ READY ================

  

• If you see an error such as:

  NPP_EXEC: "Compile"
  CD: new 1
  Current directory: C:\Program Files\Notepad++
  javac new 1
  ; about to start a child process: "javac new 1"
  CreateProcess() failed with error code 2:
  The system cannot find the file specified.
  
  ================ READY ================

  It might mean that you are using an older version of Java and you need to set up some environment variables. If you're absolutely sure that you've installed the current version of Java and you see this error, ask your professor.
• If you see anything else that doesn't match the successful compile output above, ask your instructor or professor. If you're not in class and need to contact your instructor or professor via email, be sure to send them a paste of all the output in your console window along with the code you're trying to compile. If you're receiving error messages in a dialog box, take a screen shot and attach that to your message. There are several other problems that could occur, and if you don't show your instructor or professor exactly what happened, they can't help you solve the problem.
• If your program compiled successfully, it means you now have a bytecode file that you can execute using the Java interpreter. If you like, you can use a file management tool to browse to your current directory and see that you now have a Testing.java and a Testing.class file.
• To execute your bytecode file, we can use the Execute Java menu item: Use Macro > Execute Java or use the Ctrl-Shift-E keyboard shortcut.
• You should see a successful execute in the console window, including the text "Hello, World!" Your execute output should look something like this:

  NPP_EXEC: "Execute"
  CD: C:\Users\Wendi\Google Drive\~Work\!!Winter2020\Java1\projects\_examples\Testing.java
  Current directory: C:\Users\Wendi\Google Drive\~Work\!!Winter2020\Java1\projects\_examples
  java Testing
  Process started (PID=21072) >>>
  Hello, World!
  <<< Process finished (PID=21072). (Exit code 0)
  ================ READY ================

  

Installing IntelliJ IDEA by JetBrains is optional. If you've never programmed before, you might want to skip this for now and wait until you're more comfortable. You'll be using an IDE such as IntelliJ or NetBeans in term 2, so there's no rush unless you want to try something more challenging. You can always come back later in the term and install it then if you feel like you want to give it a try.

IntelliJ is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment, rather than just a simple editor like Notepad++. It has many more features and tools that are common to more intermediate and advanced application development. This is a very popular IDE for students learning Java: it's project-based, yet also very simple to use compared to more professional IDEs such as NetBeans or Eclipse.

Follow the instructions to first download, and then install IntelliJ IDEA to your machine.

1. Go to the IntelliJ IDEA download page.
2. Click the download button under the "Community" edition. Save the file to your computer.

   

3. Once the download is complete, locate the downloaded file and run it. If you are asked anything such as "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" just agree.
4. Click NEXT on the opening welcome screen.

   

5. The next screen confirms the location of your installation. The default is fine: you don't need to change anything. Click NEXT to continue.

   

6. The next screen asks you to configure a couple of options for your installation:
   • Create Desktop Shortcut: unless your computer is really old, select "64 bit launcher" (if your computer is that old, you probably won't be able to use it in term 2 and should start thinking about getting a new one).
   • Create Associations: select ".java". This just means that when you double-click any .java file on your computer, it will automatically open with IntelliJ IDEA. Feel free to leave this unchecked if you prefer and you know what you're doing.
   Once you've set your options, click the NEXT button.

   

7. The next screen asks you to choose a name for the folder in your Windows Start menu for IntelliJ IDEA. You can leave the default or change it if you want, it's up to you. As long as you know where it is in future, it doesn't matter. Click INSTALL.

   

8. The installation will take some time. You can watch the progress window while the software is installing.
9. The last window confirms that your installation is finished and asks if you'd now like to run the IntelliJ IDEA program. If you're in class, you probably want to check the box. If you're at home and doing this on your own, it's up to you if you want to run IntelliJ now or not. Either way, click the FINISH button.

   

Running IntelliJ for the First Time

When you run IntelliJ for the first time, you'll be asked whether or not you want to import any settings from a previous installation. It's assumed you don't have a previous install, so just make sure "Do not import settings" is selected and click OK.

Next, you'll be asked to agree to the JetBrains privacy policy. This is standard. Scroll down to the bottom of the policy text (the ACCEPT button will remain disabled until you do so). Click the ACCEPT button once it has become enabled.

The next screen asks if you would like to share your usage stats with JetBrains (this is common for many companies where they want to track how/when users use their software). Personally, I never agree to these things, but it's really up to you. Click either button, depending on your preference.

Finally, IntelliJ IDEA starts up and you are asked to choose a default theme (you can change or customize this in the settings, later). Choose whether or not you want the darker theme or the lighter theme. You won't need to change any of the other options they're going to ask you about, so once you've made a choice, click "Skip Remaining and Set Defaults" on the bottom-left of the screen.

The splash screen appears while the program loads. When it disappears, you'll see the Welcome screen. This screen asks you what you'd like to do. We might as well start a new project!

You can create several different kinds of projects in IntelliJ. For this course, we'll primarily be creating simple Java projects. A Java project consists of one or more source code files that are then compiled into bytecode files. Bytecode files can then be run by any Java virtual machine.

After choosing to create a new project, you'll be asked what kind of project you want to create. Make sure Java is selected in the list on the left side of the screen.

To the right is the Project SDK field. This asks you to choose which Development Kit you want to use for your project. If it says "No SDK", you'll have to select the one you installed earlier. Click the NEW button.

A dialog opens asking you to choose the location of your SDK. You should see your C: drive listed there, so use the little tiny arrow on the left to expand it and browse to your Program Files / Java directory on your system.

In the Program Files / Java directory, you should see your JDK folder, e.g. jdk-10.0.2 but the numbers might be different for you. Select that directory and then click the OK button.

Now you're back in the New Project dialog box. Ignore the bottom part of the screen where it asks about libraries. Click the NEXT button.

The next screen asks what template you want to use. We won't be using templates at this time so just ignore this screen. Click NEXT.

The last screen asks you to name your project and choose a project location. Earlier today you created directories/folders for your courses, including a java1/projects folder (or you might have called it prog10082 instead of java1, it doesn't matter). This is where you should store all of your projects. A single project contains multiple files, so when you make a project in IntelliJ, it will create a new directory/folder to contain all those files (this is often called the project's root). The name of your project root is the same as the name of your project.

Next, we create a name for our project. The project name is important, since that's how you'll be able to tell one project from another. Project names should be "self-documenting" (you should be able to accurately guess what the project is for just by reading the project name). In the example below, I called the project "FirstJavaProject". Enter an appropriate project name for your new project.

Next, we choose a location for our project files. Each project you create goes inside its own directory/folder. For example, if you create a project called "MyFirstProject", and you store it in your java1/projects folder, your project files should be located in the directory java1/projects/MyFirstProject directory.

The "Project Location:" field determines where your project and its files will be stored. By default, your Project Location may be listed as some other directory, but wee need to make sure we set it to our projects directory we created earlier. Also, since the project's files should go inside a FirstJavaProject directory, we'll need to create that directory, too.

Beside the "Project Location:" field, there's a small button with 3 dots (ellipsis) on it. Click that button to open the file browser.

Now you have a file browser dialog open. Browse to your prog10082/projects directory and select it.

Then click the "New Folder" button in the button bar at the top.

Now a smaller dialog opens, asking you to enter a new folder name. For this example, I typed "FirstJavaProject" since that's the name I chose for this project. After you enter a folder name, click the OK button.

Now your file browser shows the new project directory inside your /projects directory. Make sure it's selected and then click OK.

You should now be back at the original new project dialog, and the Project Location field has been updated to your newly created project directory.

Once your new project is created and loaded, you'll see the Tip screen. You can close it, view the next tip, choose not to see tips on startup, etc.

Setting IntelliJ Preferences

As you're learning to work in IntelliJ, you might wish to change some of your preferences such as colours/fonts, markers, etc. To find the settings, go to the File menu and choose Settings.

Right Margin Marker

By default there should be a vertical line in your editor that shows you where column 80 is. It is standard in Java programming to make sure that lines of code do not go beyond column 80, so we need to make sure there's a visual guide there to let us know when we should press the RETURN key on a long line of code.

First, we need to make sure that guide is in fact at column 80 (often the default is set to something else).

In the settings, go to Editor > Code Style (just click on Code Style, don't expand it).

Change the following settings:

• Hard Wrap at: 80
• Visual Guides: 80
• Wrap on typing: CHECKED

If you have trouble seeing the visual guide at column 80, you can change its colour by going to Editor > Colour Scheme > General. In the list in the top half of the screen, expand Editor > Guides and select "Visual Guides". To the right, you can then click the text field beside the "Foreground" check box to change the colour of the right margin marker. Unfortunately you can't change the thickness like you can in some other editors.

Theme, Fonts, and Colours

To change your default theme, go to Editor > Colour Scheme. Under Colour Scheme you'll also see several screens that allow you to customize the theme.

To change or enlarge the font, go to Editor > Font.