Best IDE to certification ?

[Frederico Werly]

Hello , Im from Brazil and i dont speak english very well .. sorry !

How is the best IDE to prepare to SCJD certification ?

Thanks..

[Peter Laurinec]

Well maybe i dont get it but how should some IDE/tool prepare you for the certification ?
Maybe it can help you with the development is that what you mean?

[Anton Golovin]

Borland JBuilder if you have access to it. Otherwise, there are free IDEs, such as Eclipse.

[Michal Charemza]

I'm quite a fan of ConTEXT. It's small, fast, and you can use it with many different programming languages. However, I'm not sure it qualifies as an "IDE": I think it's more of an "editor".

I'm not sure what language you speak, but it does have support for a variety of spoken languages as well.


Michal

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Frederico (BRA) Werly:
Hello , Im from Brazil and i dont speak english very well .. sorry !

How is the best IDE to prepare to SCJD certification ?

Thanks..

Read your instructions and be very careful if you use ANY IDE. The IDE must not contribute any code and must not require the inclusion of any packages outside J2SE. My experience with Borland JBuilder would make me very cautious about using it. Anything that writes GUI code will get you in trouble, possibly an automatic failure.

My choice is to use JEdit and the AntFarm plugin. This provides syntax colouring, an intelligent error list and an excellent make system (Ant) that are really all you need.

[peter wooster]

Also, the best thing about JEdit is its free, written in Java and portable, at least I run it on W2K and Solaris. Here's the URL to get the download..

Once its installed, you can use its plugin manager to load in Console, AntFarm, and if you use CVS, Gruntspud. With these you will have a small, free, professional J2SE development platform that won't get in your way or try to write your code. There are lots of other plugins, but I haven't found them necessary yet.

[Anton Golovin]

So any IDE-generated GUI code is disallowed? Even if I write private next to each one? How will they know?

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Anton Golovin:
So any IDE-generated GUI code is disallowed? Even if I write private next to each one?

All it says is:
"You are permitted to use any IDE tool you choose, but you must not submit any code that is not your own work. The final program must have no dependencies on any libraries other than those of the Java 2 Platform."

I read this as saying that IDE generated code is disallowed.

How will they know?

I don't know, but I wouldn't want to find out given theuse of "must" in the both sentences.

[Frederico Werly]

Thanks for reply ... in Brasil we speak Portuguease.

I ask about IDE because im afraid of IDE-generated GUI codes, i dont resquest my certifation program yet... im improve me knowledge first and my english too

Thanks a lot ... i will try JEdit. I think that they will know if i used Jbuilder or not .



(sorry by my english)

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Hi Anton

Originally posted by Anton Golovin:
So any IDE-generated GUI code is disallowed? Even if I write private next to each one? How will they know?

It is fairly obvious when looking at machine generated code that it is just that - machine generated. JBuilder typically puts most of it's code into a jbinit() method (which is a dead giveaway ), but even changing the name of the method is not enough - things like constructors / initialisers of objects look machine generated and so on. Unless you spend a lot of time on refactoring the generated code it will continue to look generated.

The absolute worst thing you can do is to accidentally click some option in the IDE's GUI layout manager, then change the option, and forget to go back and manually remove the artifact left in the code - a dead giveaway.

I am a firm believer that a developer (as opposed to a programmer) is the sort of person who should be able to do all the coding by hand (in real life they probably won't, but they should be able to). And if some programmer is having trouble with a bit of code, the developer should be able to look at the code and work out what is wrong - rely on wizards and you will not be able to do this.

Regards, Andrew

[Anton Golovin]

I agree completely, the point I am facing is that I missed this requirement and now I am staring at many lines of IDE-generated code... If I realized that sooner, I would be able to write the GUI by hand, but what do I do now?

[Philippe Maquet]

Hi Frederico,

Welcome to JavaRanch and this forum!

Maybe you didn't notice our Naming Policy when you registered. Could you please change your displayed name to meet it? You can change it here. (Removing the "(BRA)" from your name will be enough ). Thank you in advance.

How is the best IDE to prepare to SCJD certification ?

I think Eclipse is perfect for the job. Moreover, it's open-source, broadly used and gets IBM's support.

Best regards,

Phil.

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Andrew Monkhouse:
Hi Anton
It is fairly obvious when looking at machine generated code that it is just that - machine generated. JBuilder typically puts most of it's code into a jbinit() method (which is a dead giveaway ), but even changing the name of the method is not enough - things like constructors / initialisers of objects look machine generated and so on. Unless you spend a lot of time on refactoring the generated code it will continue to look generated.

The absolute worst thing you can do is to accidentally click some option in the IDE's GUI layout manager, then change the option, and forget to go back and manually remove the artifact left in the code - a dead giveaway.

I am a firm believer that a developer (as opposed to a programmer) is the sort of person who should be able to do all the coding by hand (in real life they probably won't, but they should be able to). And if some programmer is having trouble with a bit of code, the developer should be able to look at the code and work out what is wrong - rely on wizards and you will not be able to do this.

Regards, Andrew

Thanks Anrew... Not only Anton, but also me, got a great knowledge about IDE and SCJD from you....

I decided that I won't use any IDE, when I go for SCJD in a few months... I have EditPlus, which is just a small editor, to code manually... It could be enough for me...

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Philippe Maquet:
I think Eclipse is perfect for the job. Moreover, it's open-source, broadly used and gets IBM's support.

Does Eclipse have wizard to generate Swing components? What if we accidently click them, as mentioned by Andrew... It's will be a dead giveway for us...

Better use a simple editor like EditPlus, UtraEdit or sthing else...

[Nicholas Cheung]

Better use a simple editor like EditPlus, UtraEdit or sthing else...

Ko Ko, as you need to get ICED, it is better for you to try using WSAD.

Nick

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Nicholas Cheung:



Ko Ko, as you need to get ICED, it is better for you to try using WSAD.

Nick

But, Nick, as for SCJD, simple editors like EditPlus and UtraEdit should be used instead...

[Philippe Maquet]

Ko Ko Naing:
Does Eclipse have wizard to generate Swing components?

No.

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Philippe Maquet:

No.

Then Eclipse would be another alternative among simple editors like EditPlus, UltraEdit and so on... but I do believe that Eclipse is better than those two that I mentioned...

[Joakim Eriksson]

Originally posted by Ko Ko Naing:


Does Eclipse have wizard to generate Swing components? What if we accidently click them, as mentioned by Andrew... It's will be a dead giveway for us...

Better use a simple editor like EditPlus, UtraEdit or sthing else...

Use Eclipse.

[Anton Golovin]

Yes, this IDES make quite the code. I recommend you use JCreator from Xinox Software, and if you want to spend 70 dollars, JCreator Pro.

[Peter Laurinec]

Well I also quite like COntext although its more like editor.
And I also use and like JEdit, its easy to use, open source and you can get loots of plugins for it
You can find more info about JEdit here.

[Frederico Werly]

Thanks , i will use Eclipse.

Im SCJP, what i need to know to make a good exeam ?
only swing ?

Im studing a lot , show me the way

Thanks for all..

[Philippe Maquet]

Hi Frederico,

Thank you for having changed your displayed name so quickly.

Im SCJP, what i need to know to make a good exeam ?
only swing ?

In addition to what's covered by SCJP (and that you'll use in your SCJD assignment, BTW: multi-threading, the collections API, ...), you'll need to know/practice the io package, RMI or sockets and - of course - Swing.

This exam requires practice, but as you have no time limit for the exam itself, you can gain your experience while doing your exam assignment.

If you're looking for a (very) good book on the topic, I suggest you to read The Sun Certified Java Developer Exam with J2SE 1.4 (by Mehran Habibi). All people on this forum who have read it claim here that it's the best book available on SCJD. Undoubtedly.

Best regards,

Phil.

[Frederico Werly]

ohh thanks ..

I have got this book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072226846/ref=cm_bg_f_1/104-2656706-5783948?v=glance&s=books

I used this book to pass in SCJP, is this book as good to SCJD as to SCJP ?
can i use this book to SCJD or it is not recomended ?

Thanks for replys...

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Frederico Werly:
ohh thanks ..

I have got this book http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0072226846/ref=cm_bg_f_1/104-2656706-5783948?v=glance&s=books

I used this book to pass in SCJP, is this book as good to SCJD as to SCJP ?
can i use this book to SCJD or it is not recomended ?

Thanks for replys...

K&B is a great choice for SCJP and makes a good introduction to SCJD, but you probably need the extra depth provided by Max's book. And be sure to get his sample programs after you get the book.

[Marcus Beale]

Anyone who says to use Context or a simple editor has not tried a better IDE. For java development there are MUCH better choices. They will save you time and effort (Javadoc creation, jar file creation, auto imports - you don't know how much time that saves until you try it, compilation and compiling in one environment, auto compiling to indicate syntax errors on the fly, auto completion, etc.

It's easy not to generate code. Don't use the GUI editors.

Oracle's JDeveloper is my personal favorite. It's free for personal use. Just do a google search. Beware though, Oracle will call you if you put in a company name in the download form.

[peter wooster]

Originally posted by Marcus Beale:
Anyone who says to use Context or a simple editor has not tried a better IDE. For java development there are MUCH better choices. They will save you time and effort (Javadoc creation, jar file creation, auto imports - you don't know how much time that saves until you try it, compilation and compiling in one environment, auto compiling to indicate syntax errors on the fly, auto completion, etc.

It's easy not to generate code. Don't use the GUI editors.

Oracle's JDeveloper is my personal favorite. It's free for personal use. Just do a google search. Beware though, Oracle will call you if you put in a company name in the download form.

Sorry, but ARGUMENTUM AD HOMINUM is considered very poor form.

I've used many IDE's, such as several versions of JBuilder, Symantic Cafe, Forte, VB, VC++6, Visual Studio.Net, and NetBeans. I sometimes miss auto completion, but not often, not having it helps a lot in remembering the API.

Compiling with an IDE is always a poor substitution for a real make system, I use ANT.

These tools are like power tools in the workshop, a nice Makita compound mitre saw is a wonderful tool, but its best used after you know the basics, if you don't plan to lose a thumb in the learning.

In a high pressure commercial environment a good IDE that is shared by the members of a team can make a lot of sense, for this certification project it will reduce your learning benifit and may get you into trouble.

My recommendation is to use a good Java aware editor with syntax colouring, and plugins for things like an intelligent error list and ANT. My favorite is JEdit.

[Marlene Miller]

[Editor's note: argumentum ad hominem - in logic, an evasive argument relying on attack of opponent's character (from Latin for the Illiterati)]
[ September 16, 2004: Message edited by: Marlene Miller ]