Downloading Java and Installing Java

Get the entire book!

First you have to download Java. Java can be downloaded free of charge from Sun Microsystems. Type the following URL into a browser to be taken to Sun Microsystem's Java page.

http://java.sun.com/

Once you access Sun’s Java page you must make your way to the download page. Sun changes this page around from time to time, so the download instructions and screens shown here may not match 100%. On the right side of the page you will likely see a section called “Popular Downloads”. Select J2SE 5.0. If there is a version later than 5.0, choose it. This will take you to a page that looks similar to Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Select Java Version to Download

This allows you to select how you would like to download Java. You have two choices.

• NetBeans IDE + JDK
• JDK

For this book we only need the JDK. So select the second section (after the NetBeans section), as seen near the bottom of Figure 2.1. Once you select your download you will be presented with the software license, which you must accept. You can see the software license in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: Accept the License Agreement

Once you accept you will be taken to another page where you can choose how you download the Windows version. There are two choices:

• Windows Offline Installation
• Windows Online Installation

Either of these installations will work just fine. If you were going to install Java on a large number of machines it would make sense to download the off-line version and copy that file to each machine. Installing to a single machine, as you are likely doing, the online version makes more sense. The online version can resume downloads if anything goes wrong during the install. Choose the online installation, when presented with Figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3: Choose Windows Online Install

The download will now begin. Your web browser will display one or more “Security Warning” pages, such as seen in Figure 2.4. Security warnings come up whenever you are installing new software, and in this case, installing new software is exactly what we are doing. Click the “Run” button. If you are using a browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer, this button may be named “Open”.

Figure 2.4: Run the Program you Downloaded

You will have to accept a second license agreement shown in Figure 2.5. Click “Next” to continue.

Figure 2.5: Accept this License Agreement

You will now be presented with some installation options, as seen in Figure 2.6. Accept all of these by clicking “Next”.

Figure 2.6: Standard Install

The install program will now download the required files, as seen in Figure 2.7. Wait for the progress bar to reach 100%.

Figure 2.7: Install Underway

Once the download completes you will be presented with the features you can choose from. You should leave everything as it is and click “Next”, when you see Figure 2.8.

Figure 2.8: Accept Features

You will be asked with which browsers you wish to integrate Java, as seen in Figure 2.9. You should leave everything checked and click next. This allows your browsers to make use of Java.

Figure 2.9: Browser Registration

Once you choose these options installation begins. You can see the installation process in Figure 2.10. Wait for the progress bar to reach 100%.

Figure 2.10: Installing Java

Once the bar reaches 100%, Java installation is complete. You will now see Figure 2.11. Click “Finish”.

Figure 2.11: Install Complete

You have now installed Java. But you are not finished yet. To use Java in this book, you must add Java to your system path. This is covered in the next section.