Installing the JDK and NetBeans window.onload = function() { /** * The parameter for the start() method defines the width of the * navigation pane. * If the parameter is omitted a default value of 12em is used. */ Start.start("14em"); }; img { border: solid black; } Besides providing a platform for Java development, NetBeans is also written in Java. So before installing NetBeans you must first install the Java Development Kit (JDK) on your computer. Installing the JDK Installing NetBeans The Java language is developed by Oracle Corporation, which is also well known for its database management software. Oracle makes the JDK available for free for personal use, but you must create an Oracle account (which does not generate a lot of email). Here is a link to the Oracle Java Download Page (opens in a separate window). At the time of this writing, the latest release is Java 17. However, it does not work well with NetBeans, so scroll down the page and select Java 11 (currently release 11.0.13). Find and click on the download package for your platform. For example, the one for Linux is jdk-11.0.13_linux-x64_bin.tar.gz. Before downloading you will be asked to create an Oracle account or to sign in if you already have one. It will be a good idea to remember your login credentials, since you will likely want to download future Java releases. Download the package to a directory (folder) on your machine where you would like the JDK to live. Just below the download area you will find a link to Installation Instructions for you to follow. Basically, you will extract the compressed download package into a directory (in this case jdk-11.0.13) that will be your Java Home. NetBeans is developed by the open source Apache Software Foundation, which is also well known for creating the most widely used web servers in the world. Here is a link to the Apache NetBeans Download Page (opens in a separate window). At the time of this writing, the latest NetBeans release was NB 12.6. However, I have not tested it. I know that 12.0 works, so go down to Older Releases to access Apache NetBeans 12.0. Click on the installer appropriate for your machine. For example, the one for Linux is Apache-NetBeans-12.0-bin-linux-x64.sh. Download the installer to the same directory where you installed the JDK. Now you should be able to run the installer, which will look for the JDK on your system. If it cannot find it, or you happen to have another JDK installed that is not compatible, you may have to tell the installer which one to use, using the "--javahome" option on a command line. For example, on Linux:
./Apache-NetBeans-12.0-bin-linux-x64.sh --javahome jdk-11.0.13
When you have successfully installed NetBeans, the desktop launch icon will look like: We will use NetBeans version 8.2. There are more recent versions of NetBeans, but they are not yet integrated well with JavaFX (the Java graphical user interface framework) that we will use. NetBeans is written in Java, so we must also install the Java Development Kit (JDK). The only JDK that works well with NetBeans 8.2 is JDK version 8 from Oracle Corporation. Happily, Oracle provides both JDK 8 (more specifically, JDK 8u111) and NetBeans 8.2 in a download "cobundle" AVAILABLE HERE (opens in a new window). Install Launch Download the cobundle for your system and follow the INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS (opens in a new window). Upon completion, the NetBeans desktop launch icon will look like this: Upon launch, the IDE's start screen will look like this: You will need to: Accept the license agreement for Java SE Development Kit 8u221 Download the package appropriate for your platform Follow the provided installation instructions (also rendered below) that are given for different platforms Go to this link (also rendered below): https://netbeans.org/downloads/old/8.2/. Then: Select your platform (Windows, Linux, or MacOS) Click Download under the column labeled "Java SE" under "NetBeans IDE Download Bundles" and locate the download bundle in the same folder in which you installed the JDK. Instructions Start Screen Upon download, follow the installation instructions given here (also rendered below): https://netbeans.org/community/releases/82/install.html. Note: The installer will locate your JDK installation and display it before installation. Be sure that JDK 8 is selected. Upon completion, the NetBeans desktop launch icon will look like this: You can also launch NetBeans from the command line by running the executable appropriate for your platform located in the bin folder in your NetBeans installation folder. Upon launch, the IDE's start screen will look like this: NetBeans is developed and maintained by the Apache Software Foundation. To install it, go to the Apache NetBeans Project and click Download. Click the "incubating-netbeans-10.0-bin.zip" link, which will bring you to a page suggesting a mirror site for your download. Click the mirror site to download incubating-netbeans-10.0-bin.zip to your machine, then unzip (extract) the folder (called netbeans) to a location of your choosing. Within the netbeans folder is a subfolder called bin that contains these files: netbeans: a shell script for running under Linux and MacOS netbeans64.exe and netbeans.exe: executable binaries for Windows Run the binary appropriate for your system. After launch, the IDE should look like this: In this step you will create, build, and run a NetBeans project using the provided files Console.java and ConsoleTest.java. Don't worry if you don't understand the code at this time. Create a Project Update the Class File Compile the File Create a Test Class Run the Test The files required for this exercise are available from the menu on the left. Console.java ConsoleTest.java Console.java ConsoleTest.java First, start NetBeans on your machine. Then follow the menu to the left. File Menu New Project New Application Projects Tab Click the File menu and select New Project... In the New Project dialog, under Categories: select JavaFX and under Projects: select JavaFX Application. In the New JavaFX Application dialog, name the project Console and choose an appropriate project location on your machine. Leave the Create Application Class box checked and click Finish. You should now see the Console project under the Projects tab in the upper left of the IDE. A source package called console will have been created with a class file called Console.java: Click the handle next to the Console project node to reveal the Source Packages and Libraries sub-nodes. By default, there is a source package with no name. We will create a new package called console. Source Packages Menu New Package Projects Tab Right click the Source Packages node and choose the New ▸ Java Package... option. In the New Java Package dialog, name the package console and click Finish. You should now see the console package under the Source Packages node. In this step you will update the default Console class in the console package. Projects Tab Source Editor Replace Source Right click the console node and choose the New ▸ Java Class... option In the New Java Class dialog, name the class Console and click Finish. You should see the Console.java class under the console node: You could actually run this class by right-clicking it and choosing Run File. You will get a simple GUI (graphical user interface) version of a "Hello World" application. However, we are going to replace the contents of Console.java with our own code. Double click the class to open it in the source editor. You should see the default contents of the Console.java file under the Console.java tab in the right side of the IDE. This is a full program and text editor with cut-and-paste capabilities. Replace the default contents of Console.java with this provided Console.java file using your desktop environment's cut-and-paste capabilities. Note the small wrench icon next to Console.java. This indicates that the file has not been compiled. While compilation usually takes place automatically when you run a project or file, you can also compile files manually. Files Tab Compile File Files Tab Again Click the Files tab next to the Projects tab in the upper left of the IDE and open the files view. Note the absence of a build folder (not the same as the build.xml file). Return to the Projects tab, right click the Console.java node, and select Compile File. Note that the wrench icon disappears and a build folder has been added to the Files tab. Navigate through the build folder and sub-folders to find the Console.class object file produced by the compiler. So far you have created a Console class and successfully compiled it. To test the class we will use the JUnit framework included with NetBeans. Tools Menu Create Test Dialog Test Package Created Default Test Contents Replaced Test Contents Under the Projects tab, right click Console.java and choose Tools ▸ Create/Update Tests In the Create/Update Tests dialog, keep the name and location defaults but uncheck all the code generation options. Click OK. Note that the Test Packages node has been added to the Projects tab, with package name console and class name ConsoleTest.java You should also see the default contents of the ConsoleTest.java file under the ConsoleTest.java tab in the right side of the IDE. Replace the default contents of ConsoleTest.java with this provided ConsoleTest.java file. Note the small wrench icon next to ConsoleTest.java. Although you can manually compile the file, it will be automatically compiled when it is run. Run the Test File Interact Right click the ConsoleTest.java node and choose Run File. A window with the title Testing Console should appear. It simulates a terminal console that takes single-line commands and processes them when Enter is pressed on the keyboard. Click in the Input area, type some text, and press Enter. The input will be echoed in the upper part of the window and the console will wait for and display more input until the application is ended by clicking the ⨯ in the upper right corner. NetBeans provides a useful means of debugging Java programs by allowing the stopping of program execution to inspect the program's state, for example, the values of an object's instance fields. Breakpoints Debug File Hovering the Mouse Variables Window Controls A breakpoint is a program location at which you would like program execution to pause so you can inspect its state. When a class file is open in the NetBeans source editor, line numbers are displayed (although they are not part of the program itself). For example, line number 56 in Console.java immediately follows the assignment of the variable input. To observe the value of this variable while the program runs, set a breakpoint by clicking on line number 56: To run a test with breakpoints observed, right click the ConsoleTest.java node and choose Debug File. The console will appear and wait for input, for example, "Hello". When Enter is pressed the process method is called and execution pauses at line 56. Notice that a Debugging tab is displayed in the upper left of the IDE. Also, you can hover the mouse over variable references in the program to observe their values. Below, the mouse is passing over the declaration of the instance field "input": When the debugger is being run, a Variables window appears beneath the source editor, showing the names and values of all exposed variables. In the Variables window below, the this variable has been opened to show the input variable and its current value, "Hello". When a program is being debugged, the programmer has a choice between high-level controls and stepping controls when deciding how to proceed. High-Level Controls Stepping Controls High-level debugging controls involve exiting or proceeding to breakpoints. The following high-level controls (Finish, Pause and Continue) appear on the tool bar: The Finish button exits the program The Pause button pauses the program if it is not already at a breakpoint The Continue button will run the program to the next breakpoint. In our case, this option will cause the program to wait until the user provides another input, then it will again pause at line 56. Here is the way the editor looks after "there" has been entered: Stepping controls allow the program to pause, not based on breakpoints, but on the program's structure in terms of source lines and expressions. The following stepping controls (Step Over, Step Over Expression, Step Into and Step Out) appear on the tool bar: Step Over : Executes one source line, including any contained method calls (steps "over" a source line) Step Over Expression : Executes one method call in an expression (steps "over" a method call, among possibly others, in an expression) Step Into : Executes one method call in a source line (steps "into" a source line and executes a method call, among possibly others on that line) Step Out : Executes one source line and any remaining lines if the source line is part of a method body (steps "out" of a method body) Besides inspecting variable values while debugging, you can change their values to further observe program behavior. Below on the left the value of input has been manually changed in the debugger to "World!". After continuing through the next breakpoint the console looks like that on the right. Note that the new value of input is displayed though that value was not entered by the program user. When your console project is working correctly: Make sure your identifying information is in the class comments of Console.java and ConsoleTest.java Use File > Export Project > To Zip... to zip (compress) your Console folder as Console.zip. Submit Console.zip by going to the module called Lab 1: Installing and Using NetBeans in Your project will be inspected and run by the lab instructor. Grading criteria: Successful creation of the Echo Console: 10 points
