Local Mirrors

I've mirrored some resources locally.

I'll be updating this throughout the term. Let me know if you find any problems.

Java Links

NB. There are very many sites out there that have collected together a set of links to Java
tools and related resources. It will only help you to be familiar with other sources of
Java information. This collection is put here from my meagre list of bookmarks.

YOU SHOULD BEGIN YOUR SEARCH AT Sun's Java Site.

If, after reading this document, you are confused about basic definitions, I suggest reading Sun's JDK FAQ as a good place to start.

I have put this collection together so that I can make some comments that might help you
decide what environment to use. There will be no officially recommended set of resources.
That being said, I have made some comments that might help you decide on one resource
or another.

Resource	Free	Platforms	IDE	Compiler	JRE	BCE
Jikes Java Compiler	y	W M S L	n	y	n	n
Sun's JDK	y	W M S L	n	y	y	n
Sun's BDK	y	W M S L	n	n	n	n
IBM Visual Age for Java	y	W	y	y	y	y
Microsoft VisualJ++	n	W	y	y	y	?
Symantec Visual Cafe	n	W	y	y	y	y
Imprise JBuilder	n	W	y	y	y	y

Platform Codes
W	Windows 95/98/NT
M	MacOS
S	Solaris on SPARC
L	Linux x86 or PowerPC

Confused? Some Quick Definitions

BCE	Bean Composition Editor. Beans are programming components written in Java. A BCE is typically a visual language where programming consists of selecting components, placing them on the screen, and then wiring them together. Programmers of Visual Basic will be familiar with the style of visual editing done in typical BCEs.
JDK	Java Development Kit. This is a collection of programs, source code, and documentation (a kit) that allows you to develop Java programs. It normally consists of a compiler, a JRE, and the standard Java packages (the standard library). With a JDK you can develop stand-alone applications, Applets that are meant to run in browsers, and Java Beans. The compiler is often used by a BDK to compile bean compositions.
BDK	Bean Development Kit. Basically a JDK with some Beans and a BCE. These are the basic tools for building Beans.
JRE	Java Runtime Environment. The stuff needed to execute compiled Java code. Includes an interpreter for Java bytecode---the program that runs your Java programs on your particular computer. See Sun's description.

Description of Tools

Your choice of tools will depend upon your budget, disk space, and preferences. You can definitely get good tools for very little money (eg. free), but you might be interested in certain commercial products because of their support, documentation, and prestige. If you get one of the all-inclusive packages (e.g. IBM, Microsoft, etc.), you won't need a separate compiler and JVM (such as Sun's JDK) since that will already be included. I cannot recommend any particular tools. However I can give you my preferences based on your inclinations:

If you like IDE-based environments (like Visual Basic or Visual C++) and have lots of disk space, you might like IBM's Visual Age for Java.
If you still like IDE-based environments but don't have lots of disk space and find the commercial ones to be resource hogs, you might try some of the free ones. I'll put links to these shortly, but you can find them on your own, and they do exist.
If you don't need an IDE and prefer command-line tools, I suggest Emacs in combination with Sun's JDK and possibly one of the free class browsing tools. One advantage with this setup is that you can use the same tools at school in the unix labs, under under Linux, and under Win95/98.