[Mike the Knife]

This may sound like a cheesy problem to some of you, but bear with me. I'm a college student who's just starting Java this semester. I'm using MacOS X, and of course they teach us using Textpad and other windows programs.

I will only be making console programs for this semester, but I'd like to use a comfortable and efficient IDE to make my programs. The program is a simple two-class Java app that only uses an if statement, a readline, and a println. The one class is the main class, the other has the i/o methods. My first thought was Project Builder. To make the console program, I just created a blank project. I added the two files, but I couldn't build the program. All the options on the build menu were grayed out, and the icons didn't work either. The only thing that wasn't grayed out was to check the syntax of the file, and when I clicked it nothing happened.

Yes, JDK 1.3.1 is installed so it's not that. Do I need to set something up?

Anyway, so I moved on to Jbuilder Personal 6. Is it even possible to create console-only programs with it? Every time I want to make a new class it prompts me to create a directory for a project, and when I make a project, there's all sorts of extra stuff in there that keeps me from compiling correctly. I tried new class, application, and project, and the closest I got was having my two files and a Frame1.java file. I deleted the Frame1 (because I was getting a compile error about it), and I still got the error.

Can I not use either of these IDEs to build SIMPLE console Java applications for learning?

Please, any solutions are greatly appreciated.

[Ghoser777]

Solution: Instead of making a blank project, you should make a Java Tool one. Otherwise, you have to setup a bunch of settings. That should fix all your problems.

HTH,
F-bacher

[Mike the Knife]

Thanks a lot, I'm going to try that now.

Will always using Java Tool be detrimental to me in the future?

And anyone have any ideas about Jbuilder? Thanks again.

[Kristoff]

I recommed this to ALL Java programmers.
In my professional opinion, NetBeans / Forte is the best Java IDE out there. Like all of them, it has pluses and minuses--but the pluses outway the minuses.
It is open source, it is free, it is fully featured, well documented, and the best part...the one that even JBuilder can't claim:

100% pure java!
What a concept! You learn the IDE once, and you can use it on ANY platform (that has a JDK). WHAT A CONCEPT! What will they think of next!

Runs great on my Powerbook g3 500 w/640 MB ram, and flies on my Dual 800 with 1.2 GB ram. I use it at work on Windows and Solaris, and at home on OS X and Linux.

It's easy to learn, intuitive, and I highly recommend it.