2.4. Gathering Your Tools

There are a number of things you'll need to get started writing and running Java programs. The first thing to do is download the most recent Java SDK, which, at the time of this writing, is 1.4.0. You can download the SDK from http://java.sun.com. You are likely to see a prominent link to download it on this page. If not, click on Products and APIs, and get the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition.

Note

A Java compiler is included with the SDK downloadable from Sun. However, there are other Java compilers on the market, including the Jikes compiler from IBM alphaWorks. Originally a project of the Tom Watson Research Center, it is now exclusively an OSI Certified Open Source project. You may ask, why bother fiddling with ...

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