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Compiler for SCJP 6

 
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Which is the the best program to use to actually write sample programs? Or if you prefer, what is a very widely used free alternative? I downloaded Eclipse so far...
 
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Jack Moore Iii wrote:Which is the the best program to use to actually write sample programs? Or if you prefer, what is a very widely used free alternative? I downloaded Eclipse so far...



Eclipse is one of the most popular IDE out there. you can use netbeans, intellijIde.
 
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Jack Moore Iii wrote:Which is the the best program to use to actually write sample programs? Or if you prefer, what is a very widely used free alternative? I downloaded Eclipse so far...



I wont suggest you to use an IDE for exam purpose.
 
gurpeet singh
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i will second Saloni's thoughts that for exam perspective try NOT to use IDE. but then it depends upon the time you have if you are preparing for the scjp/ocpjp exam. also not using ide also has its cons. the inbuilt compiler of java javac won't give as detailed messages as given by IDE's like eclipse out there. you can use some simpler IDE like bluej, however if you have time and patience best would be a simple text editor like notepad or i would prefer notepad++.
 
Jack Moore Iii
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Okay, what? I'm looking for something to run sample programs on to do the exercises and such that go with the K&B book and become more familiar with Java. Why do I not want to use a program that will help me with that?...
 
gurpeet singh
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Jack Moore Iii wrote:Okay, what? I'm looking for something to run sample programs on to do the exercises and such that go with the K&B book and become more familiar with Java. Why do I not want to use a program that will help me with that?...



to use IDE or not in context of exam depends upon lot of factors including time you have for your exam , your present skill in java. IDE's will save time and there error messages are detailed as compared to javac. but as you might be knowing in exam programs are not intended as per sun's conventions . infact there is no indendation at all. whereas ide's indent your code and present the structure more clearly. you don't want this for exam. try practising code as it is likely to appear in the exam. also ide's will autocomplete your code which will hamper your learning of java api. whereas if you use a simple text editor, no doubt you will make mistakes but you would be much much clearer. though all this clarity at cost of time. i say if you have time then go for simple text editor. it is also not that time consuming.
 
Jack Moore Iii
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Okay, but how do I know I wrote the correct code? Do you mean write the code in notepad then try to compile it with the least helpful compiler and figure out why it's not compiling myself? Which is the least helpful one I can use then?...
 
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Jack Moore Iii wrote:Okay, but how do I know I wrote the correct code? Do you mean write the code in notepad then try to compile it with the least helpful compiler and figure out why it's not compiling myself? Which is the least helpful one I can use then?...


Well, the problem with IDE (its quite helpful in real life, but a little problematic during OCPJP preperation) is that - it does a lot of things for you - e.g. it will import packages automatically, it will tell you compile time errors right away(during typing the code) and so on.

But, when you write a code in plain text editor and compile it manually, using javac, then you'll get to know that your code (during first few times) have some basic errors like class name is not proper (string, instead of String), or necessary packages are not imported. And this will teach you basics like what are exact class names(is it HashTable, or Hashtable?), where does a particular class lies. These things are helpful in OCPJP.

However, once you've written the code and is compiled successfully, IDE would really help you to debug the code (especially threading code - it is pain to debug it without IDE). There's nothing wrong in using IDE - only thing is that you should not use any help from IDE. You can very well use IDE - just make sure that you've turned off auto-complete (and other) features.

I hope this helps.

And Welcome to CodeRanch!
 
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