This page contains links to pages with information about the various software tools you will be using in introductory programming classes at UT.

Java^TM 2 Platform, Standard Edition Version 8.0 and Documentation: According to Sun's Java homepage the"Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) software is the premier platform for rapidly developing and deploying secure, portable applications that run on server and desktop systems spanning most operating systems." If you want to work at home you must download and install Sun's J2SE Development Kit  (JDK) which includes both the development tools (compiler, etc.) and the Java^TM 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition, version 8.  Essentially The Java 2 JDK, along with a text editor of some sort, is the minimum software you need to create and run Java programs. See this page for instructions for download and installation.

If you want to use an IDE (interactive development environment) to help implement and test your programs for assignments I suggest you use either BlueJ or Eclipse.

Eclipse: The recommended IDE for the class.

• Instructions for installing Eclipse.
• Instructions for using Eclipse's basic features.

A useful page from Cay Horstmann with instructions for some of the more popular environments for using Java. (Command line, BlueJ, Eclipse)