I have been interested in Java for a while but I am having trouble finding a platform to use. When I started c++ a few years back we had bloodshed and visual studio. My question is what is the best platform for a Java beginner? I would prefer a free one so I can get some knowledge of how to program in Java.
kaylee10 0 Newbie Poster
jon.kiparsky 326 Posting Virtuoso
Popular discussion lately. There are IDEs available for Java. Eclipse is probably the most popular, and it's pretty usable. NetBeans is popular as well, I haven't used it. Both are free. There are others as well.
However, I'd suggest that you use an editor and compile direct from the command line. Auto-completion and syntax error highlighting and other features will be very useful when you are producing serious code, but they'll only interfere with the job you have in front of you now, which is learning the language.
Tracking down your own errors and looking up library methods yourself will feel slower at first, but if you do it that way you'll be thinking in the language much sooner.
kaylee10 0 Newbie Poster
Thank you very much I appreciate your insight. This will definitely help me out.
Popular discussion lately. There are IDEs available for Java. Eclipse is probably the most popular, and it's pretty usable. NetBeans is popular as well, I haven't used it. Both are free. There are others as well.
However, I'd suggest that you use an editor and compile direct from the command line. Auto-completion and syntax error highlighting and other features will be very useful when you are producing serious code, but they'll only interfere with the job you have in front of you now, which is learning the language.
Tracking down your own errors and looking up library methods yourself will feel slower at first, but if you do it that way you'll be thinking in the language much sooner.
Taywin 312 Posting Virtuoso
If you are looking for editor, TextPad is free and so is JGrasp. They both are good editor for coding Java. I usually use TextPad more than JGrasp because of its fast loading (the program itself).
Be a part of the DaniWeb community
We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.