Some of you may need to install Java for this course. To see whether you will need to do so, open a command shell and type java -version:
$ java -version
java version "1.8.0_05"
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment (build 1.8.0_05-b13)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM (build 25.5-b02, mixed mode)
If the ‘java’ command does not work, or if the version is not 1.8, then you will need to install a new version of Java JDK following the directions at the Java SDK Downloads Page.
You must download and install the JDK version of Java, not just the JRE.
In addition to the java -version command working properly, you must also make sure that the JAVA_HOME environment variable is set correctly.
On Unix machines (Linux, Mac), you can check as follows:
$ printenv | grep JAVA_HOME
JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.8.0_05.jdk/Contents/Home
This output indicates that the JAVA_HOME environment variable is set and it is set to the Java 8 installation.
On Windows, you can type set to see the list of all environment variables.
Some of you might need to switch back and forth among different versions of Java. For example, you might need to use Java 8 for this course and Java 7 for your research project (because, for example, it requires a library that only runs on Java 7).
There are a variety of ways to switch between Java versions:
To be completed by the time and date indicated on the Schedule page.