Picking a development environment in Java

by Eric Davis

Anyone with a text editor and a java compiler can create java programs. But that isn't always the easiest way. Development environments provide programmers with an easy way of editing, compiling, and testing their code to help quicken the software production process. Unfortunately, not all development environments achieve these goals in the same way (or at all). The following is a list of development environments and their advantages/disadvantages. Links to where to get them are also included. Terms that I use to describe features are listed at the end of the document.

TextPad- Minimalists of the world unite! The simplest and easiest Java compiler I know of. No projects to set up, no extra frills. Just a text window, a compile command, and a run command. Nothing that you would want to use for large, complex, real-world projects, but for doing academic programming, it is wonderful. If you ever used and enjoyed the simplicity of Borland Pascal or Borland C, this is the closest thing that I have found to those packages. If you are in CS103, this is the main way we will make Java programs, and an earlier version of it is located on the CD in the back of your book. Free for evaluation, but to stop the periodic pop-up windows, you have to pay.

CodeWarrior for Java- Metroworks has created their well-known integrated development environment CodeWarrior for many years now. Most famous for its cross-platform development(program it on any platform and compile it for any platform), it quickly started supporting Java in its IDE (which naturally works cross platform- compile on any platform, run on any other platform). Java support is included in their standard package( with C and C++) or you can get it separately for just Java. They produce it for any platform. I know it has color coding of code, but they offer no trial downloads, so have no review of features, extraneous code, etc. I believe that it does do visual programming, but I am unsure. Reasonable Academic pricing.

JBuilder- Winner of PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award. The magazine tested 7 different environments and really liked this one. And for good reason. There is very little extraneous code, and it writes it in Pure Java (no extra libraries to give out like with VisualCafe). It has a pretty nice visual programming area, and its projects/simple files are easier to set up than the with Forte. The standard version, Foundation, is free as long as you are willing to take the time to fill out a survey or two, give some personal information, and agree to possible future communications from them regarding your copy of their program and how you've liked it. It can be a little slow some times, but it is far faster than Forte. Good product, especially for the price.

JDeveloper- Oracle's Bid into the Java IDE market. Very little information as to how their product is as their website registration(which you need to download a free copy, I believe) was down. More on it later when I have more time to evaluate.

Forte for Java- Made by the people that made Java, Sun, Forte has a lot of really nice advantages. Autocompletion is included for all system classes (not for User Classes). Actually written in Java (I believe). Color coding of your code is again included. Allows for visual programming with very little, if any, extraneous code produced (thus keeping the code pure enough for portability). Unfortunately, it is also extremely slow (mainly in the startup, but is still visibly slow when you are working with it), so if you have a moderately slow machine it is out of the question. Can also be difficult to use for small, simple programs, as it requires many steps to create a new project/package/etc.

Visual SlickEdit- Probably one of the best editors out there(compiles all languages imaginable, even C#). Academic prices are reasonable(about $100). Autocompletion of code is provided for both system classes and user defined classes. Has some nice hierarchy views of the code modules on the side. Very customizable to make the interface as close to other packages you are used to(and can emulate any editor you can imagine, even vi!). Color coding of code is included, of course. Used by such companies as IBM in their own development of GUI programs. Does not allow for visual programming (drawing your interface). Not exactly sure why they call it "Visual SlickEdit" now that I come to think of it.

VisualCafe- This is another fairly good visual programming environment. It is quicker than Forte and is pretty robust. Unfortunately, it is profuse in the amount of unnecessary code and comments that it inputs into your code. Most of the visual interface code is also not pure java and thus not very portable, unless you include all of the Symantec/WebGain libraries with your product. The standard edition is free though.

 

Lemmy- No it is not a development environment. No it is not very powerful. But it is the way that I write Java code. Lemmy is a vi emulator for Windows (I love vi). It color codes java code (and other programming languages), but that is about all you can ask for. You could probably get the same functionality from a TeraTerm (or other good Telnet client) window and a Unix box that compiles Java 1.3 (tell me if you find a public one). I just edit the code in Lemmy and then compile it with the javac command in a Dos window. Though Lemmy is free for 30 days(and is just small change for registering) it is not recommended for anyone that does not know vi.