help a desperate AP Computer Science high school student

y0itzr0 · Jun 17, 2008

hi,
my teacher told me to download Jcreator to work on the summer assignments. unfortunately, the software is only available for windows computers. i have a windows computer, but it is extremely slow. are there any mac-friendly options that work the same way as jcreator? (if he tells me to open a new ICT Project and compile it, i could do the same thing with another software).

i am pretty new to this. i have no background in software programming, which is why i am doing this over my summer break. can anyone please assist me??

thanks for ur help!!!!!!!!

louishen · Jun 17, 2008

I know absolutelly nothing about programming, but it seems an IDE is a development environment

There are plenty of IDEs out there but the creators of Java provide the tools for free

http://developer.apple.com/java/creator.html

PLus some background, in the above article, but more expert people might know more

PapaNoHair · Jun 17, 2008

y0itzr0 said:
hi,
my teacher told me to download Jcreator to work on the summer assignments. unfortunately, the software is only available for windows computers. i have a windows computer, but it is extremely slow. are there any mac-friendly options that work the same way as jcreator? (if he tells me to open a new ICT Project and compile it, i could do the same thing with another software).

i am pretty new to this. i have no background in software programming, which is why i am doing this over my summer break. can anyone please assist me??

thanks for ur help!!!!!!!!

I am not an expert but try this page:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080110220533AARLlZb

xstep · Jun 18, 2008

I would let your teacher know that isn't an option and look into Eclipse which is a very respected development environment that allows you to do Java development.

XCode might be an option but I haven't looked into it.

Del · Jun 18, 2008

xstep said:
I would let your teacher know that isn't an option and look into Eclipse which is a very respected development environment that allows you to do Java development.

XCode might be an option but I haven't looked into it.

Eclipse gets my vote too - but be warned if you are new to development it may be a bit of a learning curve for you.

y0itzr0 · Jun 18, 2008

thanks for all the responses guys!
i just spoke to my teacher, and he gave me the okay for eclipse. he will be sending me online instructions on how to program using Jcreator. will it be much different if i use eclipse?

Aptmunich · Jun 18, 2008

Nope, the programming itself is the same, but you might need to click options that are named a bit differently to run the app.

But Eclipse is great - once you've found your way around the basics you can really get things done!

If you have any questions, just post back here - I'm also in the process of learning Java on my Macbook at University using Eclipse!

y0itzr0 · Jun 18, 2008

thanks!
do u think Eclipse is more similar to Jcreator or do you think Xcode will be more similar?

Aptmunich · Jun 18, 2008

They're both similar apps - both are extensive IDEs.

However XCode is really tailored primarily to doing Objective-C development and the few times I've attempted to do Java development with it, I've preferred Eclipse. But XCode does have the advantage of feeling quite a bit more "Mac-like".

I'd use Eclipse as that's probably something your course teacher will be more familiar with. You'll also find a lot more articles and websites about developing Java apps in Eclipse than you will on developing java apps in xcode.

y0itzr0 · Jun 19, 2008

okay cool thanks!
im just going to stick with eclipse.