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I'm just beginning to teach myself Java coding, in hopes of building a few blackberry apps.

I assume I should:

  1. learn the basics.
  2. buy a blackberry app building book - learn the ropes
  3. acuqire necessary software - here's where my questions begin...

Do I use Eclipse as the IDE? What about the Java API? Remember, I'm a complete newb, so my jargon may be somewhat...well...wrong. But, I think these two peices are initial steps, no?

And most importantly, should I even be trying to code on my Macbook Pro? Or should I stick to my IBM compatibable, and learn from there?

Thanks for your help!

Kara
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user615645
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3 Answers3

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I'll answer each of your questions separately.

  1. Yes, you have the basics of how you should learn. More than anything, it is important to understand the concepts of the Java language before you go too far in development because understanding those concepts can be the difference between a successful application and a failure (which will, ultimately, discourage you and perhaps cause you to give up).
  2. With respect to what IDE you can use to code, you can use Eclipse (my personal favorite), NetBeans, or, just a notepad. Oracle's Java Development Kit (JDK) is what provides the Java compiler that you actually need to build your code and get it to run. However, a solid IDE can ease the process as well as provide a large number of features to make your development much easier.
  3. It does not matter where you develop. A major advantage of Java is that it is platform independent. You can code Java on a Mac and it will work on a PC and it will work on Linux, etc, etc. All you need is the proper JDK to build Java for that specific platform. So, don't worry about that and work on the machine that is best suited for your needs.

You may want to browse around StackOverflow for a bit and read up on some of the other beginner questions on Java. Other than that, I would highly going out and getting a good Java development book and reading the tutorials that are available online.

Hope that helps get you started. Good luck and welcome to StackOverflow!

Community
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JasCav
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  • Stackoverflow is my new love affair. The immediacy of responses is insanneee. Not sure how I lived without this board for 25, going on 26 years. – user615645 Feb 14 '11 at 05:44
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    @user615645 - Glad you're enjoying it. If I could make a recommendation - if an answer does help you, please vote up and/or accept (if it is the correct answer to your problem). Providing this feedback continues to grow the site and make it better for everybody. I'm glad you're enjoying the community! – JasCav Feb 14 '11 at 16:33
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Blackberry Development on Mac OS X The new eclipse blackberry plugin for OS X does not have a simulator so if you want ot debug you will need to hook up an actual blackberry(or run the simulator from a windows vm).

Blackberry uses Java ME and some rim classes(net.rim namespace). Documentation is here http://www.blackberry.com/developers/docs/6.0.0api/index.html Note that just because a class with the same name as a regular(java SE) class is there does not mean it has all of the same functionality.

Also why do you want to develop for the blackberry specifically?

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Roman A. Taycher
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  • I have always preferred the simplistic functionality of the blackberry over the iphone, for example. Push email is the primary draw for me. Other than that, no particular reason, and I am actually now not sure if my aforementioned 'reason' is a reason at all. Kinda just decided to go this route out of nowhere. – user615645 Feb 14 '11 at 05:43
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You can use Eclipse as an IDE, it would certainly do the job. I'm partial to Netbeans myself, and it would do the job too. XCode is Apple's own IDE, and from what I hear you can do Java development with it (it's been a while since I last used it). Finally, I hear from other sources that IntelliJ might be worth considering.

Particularly important to note is that all of these work fine on a Mac, so there's absolutely no need to move to a different platform (Windows, etc) unless you want to. I know from experience that both Eclipse and Netbeans both work on a PC, so you could consider those if you do decide to change to PC. XCode isn't released for PC on the other hand. I don't know about IntelliJ.

As for the Java API, all of these IDEs should install a copy of the Java Development Kit (JDK) when they are installed. This includes all of the API files, compilers, tools and documentation you should need to get started.

Mac
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  • thanks thanks thanks.. I need all the help I can get. I see myself going with Eclipse as it has been the most recommended. You are the first to suggest Netbeans over Eclipse, either way, I will certainly try both out. – user615645 Feb 14 '11 at 05:43