Recommended when working on the labs and anytime you feel like the CSAwesome interface just isn’t doing it for you.

Software

Short version: You need a text editor and a JDK.

  1. Get VS Code (already installed in room 31)
  2. Get JDK provided by Adoptium (also installed). Don’t sweat the version, but 21 if you are facing choice paralysis.

If you want that Linux feel on a Windows machine, use winget to install software. The two commands below will get you VS Code and a JDK.

1
2

winget install Microsoft.VisualStudioCode
winget install EclipseAdoptium.Temurin.21.JDK

VS Code will recommend some extensions, but I advise against using them. Muscle memory is an important tool, so the code completion tools that come with those extensions might hurt you in the long run.

Environment

Short version: Create a folder and put your .java files in that folder. File names need to match the Class names.

The computers in room 31 erase all local documents every time they power down, but you each have a network drive mapped to Z:\ so you have a safe place for files. You can find it by going to This PC in Windows Explorer.

In that network drive …

  1. Create a folder for your Java project
  2. Open that folder in VS Code
  3. Create a new file and name it ClassName.java

The built-in screen recording tool in Windows has a frame rate in the single digits, but it’s enough to show you how to make a new file in VS Code.

Running

Short version: javac to compile your .java file and java ClassName to run it.

The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + ` (that’s a backtick and next to the 1 in the top-left of the keyboard) will swap to a terminal in that folder, and hitting it again will bring you back to your editor. While in the terminal window, you can execute commands that will compile and run your code. The two you need are

javac ClassName.java

java ClassName

The first will compile your Java file into something that can be run on that machine. The second command will actually run it.

If you want to work a little quicker, you can do both at the same time with

javac ClassName.java; java ClassName

and then hit the up arrow key to rerun a previous command.