cs2381: Required Software

To do class assignments on a computer, you’ll need several things:

The Java Development Kit
The Maven build tool
A properly configured programming editor
On Windows, several other tools are recommended

Installing the Java Development Kit #

For this class we want version 17 of OpenJDK.

Later versions will work, earlier ones may not.

Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, or related)

sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk

Windows / Mac

Download the appropriate package for your OS from https://adoptium.net/temurin/archive/?version=17
Install as normal for your OS.
If on Mac, make sure you know whether your machine is amd64 or aarch64 and pick the right package.

Installing Maven #

Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Mint, or related)

sudo apt install maven

Windows / Mac

Visit the Apache Maven website.
Follow the directions to install.
There is no simple installer program, so you will need to read the instructions and possibly search for details about how to accomplish individual steps.
The current release version should be fine.

Installing an Editor #

Visual Studio Code

Our default editor for this course will be Visual Studio Code. Visit the site and follow the instructions to install it.

Once you’ve installed it, it needs some configuration. First, install “Extension Pack for Java”. Then, press Press F1, type “> open user settings” and select “Open User Settings (JSON)”. Paste in the following blob as the complete config file:

{
    "editor.quickSuggestions": { "other": false, "comments": false, "strings": false },
    "editor.acceptSuggestionOnEnter": "off",
    "editor.quickSuggestionsDelay": 10,
    "editor.wordBasedSuggestions": "off", 
    "editor.parameterHints.enabled": false,
    "editor.suggestOnTriggerCharacters": false,
    "editor.autoClosingBrackets": "never",
    "editor.autoClosingQuotes": "never",
    "java.inlayHints.parameterNames.enabled": "none",
}

Other Options

Using Visual Studio Code is not required. There are several other editors worth exploring, including:

VScodium with “Extension Pack for Java”
Notepad++, Bluefish
Neovim, Emacs ( Spacemacs, Doom Emacs )

You want to make sure your editor is intended for programming and provides syntax highlighting.

Other Software for Windows #

Both Linux and Mac provide reasoanbly complete terminal environments by default. On Windows, installing some extra stuff helps. Perl especially will allow you to run the test script locally.

Strawberry Perl (>= 5.32 64 bit)
Linux commands in Windows command prompt: GoW
Just get a whole Linux on Windows: WSL with Debian or Ubuntu
The 7-Zip archive tool might help for inspecting .tar.gz archives