Java remains one of the most popular programming languages in the world, a position fostered by the language's simplicity as well as the robust ecosystem of integrated development environments on the market that support both general and specific coding objectives.
While many IDEs are part of a paid enterprise development stack, Java programmers enjoy access to several powerful and well-designed IDEs that are free, open source, or both. We highlight five of the most popular.
The NetBeans IDE supports development of all Java application types (Java SE, JavaFX, Java ME, web, EJB and mobile applications) out of the box. NetBeans is modular in design. This means it can be extended by third party developers who can create plugins for NetBeans to enhance functionality ( Our PDF Plugin for NetBeans is a good example). The problem I'm facing is that I would like to upgrade my OS to Mavericks—and I'm sure that Netbeans for Mac relies on an old version (6 I think) of java. Although I need to confirm that, maybe there's an update now. You will use the Java compiler javac to compile your Java programs and the Java interpreter java to run them. Mac OS X includes implementation of Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4.1, so there is nothing to do in this step. Online Java Compiler - Online Java Editor - Online Java IDE - Java Coding Online - Online Java Runner - Share Save Java online.
Eclipse
What We Like
Open source with large community.
Large selection of plugins available.
Easy to use.
What We Don't Like
Management of plugins and add-ons is not as easy as others.
Interface is dated.
Eclipse, which has been around since 2001, has been immensely popular with Java developers. It is open source software that is often used in the development of commercial projects.
Featuring a variety of useful plugins, the best aspect of this platform is its ability to arrange projects into workspaces called Perspectives, which are visual containers that offer sets of views and editors.
Eclipse is robust and can handle large development projects that include analysis and design, management, implementation, development, testing, and documentation.
Eclipse offers a wide choice of options to developers, the most recent of which is Eclipse Oxygen, which debuted in 2017.
IntelliJ IDEA
What We Like
Great for Android development.
Autosaves work.
Easy to automate repetitive tasks.
What We Don't Like
Less useful with languages other than Java.
Costs to access some helpful features.
Memory resource intensive.
Yet another popular IDE for Java developers is JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA, available as both a commercial Ultimate version and as a free Community download version.
Offering support for several build systems, this platform features intuitive code completion, code analysis, integration with unit testing frameworks, a full-featured database editor, and a UML Designer.
Hundreds of plugins are available for IntelliJ IDEA. Additionally, this platform features tools for Android app development.
NetBeans
What We Like
Very customizable to individual work style.
Easy to learn and to use.
What We Don't Like
Can be taxing to system resources, especially with plugins.
User interface could use an update.
The NetBeans IDE offers advanced features and support for Java, PHP, C/C++, and HTML5, which helps the developer build desktop, web, and mobile applications.
This platform, which boasts a worldwide community of developers, is open source. Use NetBeans with all versions of Java from Java ME to the Enterprise Edition.
NetBeans offers database support, which the other free IDEs don't. Using its Database Explorer, you can create, modify, and delete databases and tables in the IDE.
JDeveloper
What We Like
Good at simplifying tasks and improving efficiency.
Advanced code editing, completion, refactoring, and other features.
What We Don't Like
Bulky program that uses a lot of resources.
Not as flexible with plugins and other languages as other IDEs.
Developed by Oracle, JDeveloper is a powerful IDE that simplifies the process of development of Java-based SOA and EE applications.
This platform offers end-to-end development for Oracle Fusion middleware and Oracle Fusion applications. It allows for development in Java, SQL, XML, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and other languages.
Covering the entire development lifecycle from design, code development, debugging, optimization, profiling, and deploying, the platform focuses on simplifying app development to the maximum possible extent.
BlueJ
What We Like
Very simple interface.
Easy to use.
Barebones IDE, and lighter than others.
What We Don't Like
Lacks support of plugins to add functionality.
May be too simple for larger, complex projects.
If you're a beginner, the BlueJ Java IDE might be right up your alley. It works on Windows, macOS, Ubuntu, and other operating systems.
Because this IDE is best for beginning developers, it has a robust Blueroom community to help users understand the software and find support.
You can install a handful of extensions to BlueJ — such as a remote file manager and multiproject workspace handler — to add or modify capabilities not offered in the base program.
The open source BlueJ project is supported by Oracle.
Set up Java
To set up the Java platform on your computer, you need to download the developer kit, then set up whatever development environment you plan on using. You can also do this in one step by downloading the JDK that comes bundled with the NetBeans IDE.
Step 1: Download the JDK
- Download the development kit for Windows , Linux, Solaris, or Mac users.
Once you've installed the JDK download on your computer, set up should be complete. You may, however, want to set the classpath as an environment variable. See the installation notes for directions on how to do that for your operating system.
If you want to develop web applications, you need to use either the NetBeans IDE , Sun Java Studio Creator IDE, or Sun Java Studio Enterprise in addition to the JDK, as these environments provide a web server that's necessary for creating and testing servlets, JavaServer Pages, and database connections.
See Getting Started with an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) if you're unsure which IDE would best suit your development needs.
Step 2: Set Up a Development Environment
If you downloaded the JDK with the NetBeans IDE, start NetBeans, and begin programming.
You can also program using a simple text editor, and compile and run from the command line. Many text editors now come with the ability to run and compile Java files, but you may need to tell the program where javac.exe and java.exe reside on your computer. Use the Windows Find command, if you are unsure where these files were installed. Once, your IDE or text editor is set up, you can begin programming.
Next, copy and paste the following programs, and invoke the compiler and interpreter either at the command line or within the IDE you're using.
The following three examples use the javac and java commands and illustrate how to compile and run an application, applet, and servlet.
When compiling and running from the command line, be sure to cd into the directory where you saved your .java file.
Application
Compile the ExampleProgram.java application with the javac command and run it with the java command.
Compile and then run with the following commands:
javac ExampleProgram.java
java ExampleProgram
Applet
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Copy the SimpleApplet.java applet code, and compile with the javac command:
Compile:
javac SimpleApplet.java
You can run the applet in appletviewer (a Java platform tool for running applets independently of the browser) or in the browser. Either way you need an HTML file for the applet.
Here is the HTML file:
To run the applet in the browser, you load the HTML file. To run the applet in appletviewer with an HTML file named simple.html, type this in an MS-DOS window on Windows, or in a terminal window on Solaris:
appletviewer simple.html
Servlet
As mentioned above, to compile and run a servlet, you need to use either NetBeans or Sun Java Studio Creator. Then compile with the javac command.
To compile:
javac ExampServlet.java
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Servlets can be called directly by typing their uniform resource locator (URL) into a browser's location window after you've started the server.
Servlets can also be invoked from an HTML form by specifying their URL in the definition for a Submit button, for example.
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Servlets can be called by any program that can open an hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request.