Your backpack for hiking the Java Learning Path

Your backpack

Welcome to our trip on Java learning path.

I’ll be your tour guide along the way. But before we jump start into learning Java, let’s prepare your backpack.

You need some tools that will keep you safe and comfortable along the way.

As the way progresses you may adjust your equipment to fit your preferences but those are few things I’d like you to set up before we start (don’t worry if you don’t understand them now, just concentrate on writing a code and I’ll take care of the rest)

We’ll use build Java programs with  Java 8 JDK in Eclipse IDE using Gradle and Git to keep you comfortable when building applications.

We’ll test what you write using JUnit 4 library to keep you safe (there’s also a newer JUnit 5 library available, but JUnit 4 support for Eclipse is better for now, so let’s stick to it).

Let’s set it all up.

Java 8 JDK

Java SE Development Kit 8 (JDK)

To run Java application, you need JRE (Java Runtime Environment and you have it probably installed on your laptop) but to build Java application you’ll need so called development environment: Java Platform, Standard Edition Development Kit (JDK).

Version as of today: Java SE 8u131

Windows

Download from Oracle website.

Linux

For Linux distribution, you can either use Open Java SDK (for example comes together with Ubuntu) or Oracle Java JDK.

Installation depends on the distribution if you’re using one of Linux distributions I believe you’re up to the task of googling into the installation procedure so I’ll skip the details (google is your best friend).

Mac OS X

I’m not sure about Mac OS (never used that one), it may come with the system, but if it doesn’t – you can get it from Oracle website.

Eclipse IDE

You can find the newest on Eclipse website (or just google for ‘Eclipse download’)

Let’s go for Java for EE (so you don’t have to switch later if you decide to move on to enterprise applications). All things you need are built in Eclipse Oxygen so that’s all you need for now.

You can finish for today, or go and start building your first Java application.

Taking it further

If you want to know why I chose particular tools, you can read on here 🙂

Remember: take a fist step here: Your first step on Java Learning Path.