Using Eclipse to Run Java Programs

Downloading and Installing Eclipse

Heres how:

1. Visit www.eclipse.org.
2. On that Web site, follow the links for downloading Eclipse. Be sure
to pick the version thats appropriate for your operating system
(Linux, Macintosh, Windows, or whatever).
The download is a compressed file a ZIP file, a tar.gz file, or
something like that.
The next step depends on which operating system you have.
3. If youre not using a Macintosh, Extract the compressed files
contents to a directory on your hard drive. If youre using a Mac,
dont bother extracting. Just look for a new Eclipse icon on your
desktop.
On my Windows computer, I extract the compressed files contents to
the root of my C: drive. On my Linux/Unix computer, I extract the
compressed files contents to my /usr/local directory. In either case,
the extraction creates a new directory named eclipse. The eclipse
directory contains everything I need in order to run Eclipse.

Running Eclipse
Heres how you start an Eclipse session:

1. Double-click the Eclipse icon.

On a Macintosh, double click the Eclipse icon that appears on your
desktop.
On a Linux/Unix or Windows computer, use the explorer to navigate to
the new eclipse directory. In the eclipse directory you find an
eclipse icon. (This blue icon contains a stylized picture of some round
celestial object being eclipsed. What else would you expect to see?)
Double-click the eclipse icon.
When Eclipse runs for the first time, you see a Welcome page.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

Excerpted from Eclipse For Dummies
2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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 2. On the Welcome page, click the icon labeled Workbench.
The Eclipse workbench appears. At first, this workbench displays
something called the Resource perspective. The Resource perspective is
an arrangement of panes that helps you find files on your hard drive.
The Resource perspective is nice. But to create a Java program, you want
another perspective called the Java perspective. The Java perspectives
arrangement helps you navigate from one part of a Java program to
another.
3. On the Eclipse menu bar, choose WindowOpen PerspectiveJava.
In response to your choice, the Eclipse workbench rearranges itself. (See
Figure 1.)

Figure 1: Opening the Java perspective for the very first time.

Creating a New Java Project

How does that old nursery rhyme go? Each sack had seven cats. Each cat had
seven kittens. Imagine the amount of cat litter the woman had to have!
Anyway, in this section you create a project. Eventually, your project will
contain a Java program.

1. On the Eclipse menu bar, choose FileNewProject.

You see the New Project dialog, as shown in Figure 2.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

Excerpted from Eclipse For Dummies
2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Figure 2: The New Project dialog.
* Formally, a project is a collection of files and folders.
* Intuitively, a project is a basic work unit. For instance, a self-
contained collection of Java program files to manage your CD
collection (along with the files containing the data) may constitute
a single Eclipse project.
2. In the New Project dialog, select Java Project, and then click Next.
You see the New Java Project wizard, as shown in Figure 3.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

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2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Figure 3: The New Java Project wizard.

3. In the Project Name field, type a name for your new project.
In Figure 3, I typed Chapter03_Listing01. In the steps that follow, I
assume that you also type Chapter03_Listing01. Of course, you can
type all kinds of things in the Project Name field. Im an old stick in the
mud so I avoid putting blank spaces in my project names. But if you
insist, you can use dashes, blank spaces, and other troublesome
characters.
You have to type a name for your new project. Aside from typing a
name, you can accept the defaults (the Location and Project Layout stuff)
in the New Java Project wizard.
4. Click Finish.
When you click Finish, the Eclipse workbench reappears. The leftmost
area contains the Package Explorer view. The views list contains your
new Chapter03_Listing01. (See Figure 4.)

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

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2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Figure 4: The Chapter03_Listing01 project in the Package Explorer view.
In Eclipse, a view is one of the things that can fill up an area. A view
illustrates information. When you read the word view, think of it as a point
of view. Eclipse can illustrate the same information in many different ways.
So Eclipse has many different kinds of views. The Package Explorer view is
just one way of envisioning your Java programming projects.

Creating and running a Java class

Drumroll, please! Its time to write some code.

1. Select a projects branch in the Package Explorer.

For example, select the Chapter03_Listing01 branch in Figure 4.
2. On the main menu bar, choose FileNewClass.
The New Java Class wizard miraculously appears, as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: The New Java Class wizard.

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2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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 3. In the New Java Class wizard, fill in the Name field.
In Figure 5, I typed MyFirstJavaClass. You can type whatever you darn
well please (unless you want to stay in sync with these instructions).
4. Select other options in the New Java Class wizard.
For this example, put a check mark in the public static void
main(String args[]) box. Aside from that, just accept the
defaults, as shown in Figure 5.
5. Click Finish.
After some disk chirping, you see the workbench in Figure 6. The
Package Explorer displays a new MyFirstJavaClass.java file, and
the workbenchs middle area displays a Java editor.

Figure 6: Eclipse creates a skeletal Java source file.

6. Add your own code to the skeletal Java source file.
In Figure 7, I add System.out.println("Chocolate,
Royalties, Sleep") to the main methods body.

Figure 7: An additional line of code.

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 7. Choose FileSave to save your new MyFirstJavaClass.java
file.
You dont have to tell Eclipse to compile your code. By default, Eclipse
compiles as you type.
Of course, you want to test your new program. Using Eclipse, can run the
program with only a few mouse clicks. Heres how:
8. Choose RunRun AsJava Application. (See Figure 8.)

Figure 8: Running a Java program.

After a brief delay, a new Console view appears in the bottommost area
of the Eclipse workbench. If you click the Consoles tab, you see your
programs output, as shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9: The output of the program in Figure 7.

Using the Import wizard

This section tells you how to bring existing Java code into an Eclipse project.
You can use these steps to bring my sample programs (from Beginning
Programming with Java For Dummies) into Eclipse.

1. Create a new Java project.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

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2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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 That is, follow the steps the Creating a New Java Project section of
this online chapter. If you want to follow along with me in this example,
name your project ImportWizardTest.
2. In the Package Explorer, select your newly created project. Then, on
the main menu, choose FileImport.
An Import Wizard appears.
3. In the Import Wizard, select File System. Then click Next. (See
Figure 10.)

Figure 10: The first page of the Import Wizard.

The File System page appears.
4. In the From Directory field, enter the name of a Java source
directory.
In this example, I'm importing some of the stuff in the
/Users/barryburd/MyProjects/Chapter03_Example01
directory. So in Figure 11, I typed /Users/barryburd/MyProjects
Chapter03_Example01 in the From Directory field.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

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2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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Figure 11: Selecting the files you want to import.
5. Expand the folder on the in the left pane, looking in the right pane
for the file that you want to import. When you find the file, put a
checkmark in the files checkbox.
In Figure 11, I put a checkmark in the Mortgage.java files
checkbox.
6. In the Options group, select the Create Selected Folders Only radio
button.
Once again, see Figure 11.
7. Click Finish.
The Import Wizard disappears. In the Eclipse workbench, your project
tree contains new entries. (See Figure 12.)

Figure 12: The newly imported Mortgage.java code.

Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies

Excerpted from Eclipse For Dummies
2005 Wiley Publishing, Inc.
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