[java] .NET to java

I've asked this question also and most people like eclipse the best I think. I believe it is because of speed and it's cross-platform properties? I also go a reply that said it may be to complicated for a begginer. I'm just using the commandline compiler for now, but I eclipse will probably be the first IDE I use. I've also seen huge books at the bookstore covering Eclipse. So it must be pretty useful. I would attempt that IDE and familiarize myself with it, as you will probably be moving to it sooner or later. I hope this helps out alittle (I know I can't say much because I don't use a IDE yet, but I have asked the question).

Good luck,
-Jake

I don't understand why people think eclipse is so difficult for beginners. It's quite simple, and really helps out a lot with some of the bigger issues of learning to program in java. It will automatically import all the necessary classes (when you tell it to), which to me is the one feature that makes java a useable language. But most importantly, the automatic compilation and error highlighting is great, especially for beginners who will have a difficult time parsing the compiler output into meaningful error messages.

One of the largest problems that beginners have is the inability to read compiler output, to understand what the error messages mean, and to know that the number at the beginning of the line is the line number in the code. Eclipse takes care of this and underlines the offending piece of code.

If you are programming in Java, there is no reason to NOT use Eclipse, not even "It's too difficult for beginners," because it's a hell of a lot easier than the command line.

Skip the opening tutorial, here is all you need to know, everything else you can figure out by poking around.

When eclipse starts, set your workspace to some place where you want all your projects to sit, click "remember my decision" and forget about it. Don't use your file system to mess with the code, it's only asking for trouble.

*Click file->new->project. Select Java Project from the top of the list

Eclipse is organized into "perspectives" which are just saved collections of windows that are generally used in conjunction with each other for a specific task. Stick to the "Java" perspective by clicking Window->Open Perspective->Java Perspective (if it's not in the list, select Other->Java. Forget about "Java Browsing").

Close the Outliner on the right hand side of the window, all of the information is available in the Package Explorer.

*Right Click your project in the package explorer, select New->Class. In the New Class dialog box, give a name for your class, click the checkmark for the method stub for "public static void main(String[] args)".

*Write your code. Watch for the little red squiggly lines, it means you have an error.

compile your code... oh wait, Eclipse did it for you!

*run the program: Right Click your class in the package explorer, select Run As->Java Application.

steps marked with * are usually the only ones that are necessary.