Java is a platform-independent language and runtime system developed by Sun Microsystems and their subsidiary Javasoft. It allows creation of applets which are interactive applications that can be run within Java-enabled Web browsers. It has been ported to virtually every platform and operating system in existence.
Java is available on all supported Athena platforms in the form of the Java Development Kit (JDK). The current Athena default release is 1.6.0_17 (Sun, Linux) but the newer 1.7.0b43 release is also available. The latest 1.5 release is 1.5.0_22. Many older releases are still available- see links to these from /mit/java for details. Add-ons include Java3d, Java Advanced Imaging (with Image I/O) (JAI) and Java Web Start.
If you plan to use the Java plugin in Web browsers, please see Web browser Java plugin issues.
Please note that recent Athena releases now include one or more versions of the JDK in the release (i.e. not in one of the Java lockers). But note also that the versions in the release may not include all the add-ons that are installed in the Java lockers (Java3d, JAI...). To ensure getting the locker version, add the java locker with the -f command line switch: add -f java.
Local 1.6.0 documentation starts here; Java 3d documentation is here, Java Advanced Imaging I/O documentation is here and Java Advanced Imaging documentation is here.
An overview of 1.5.0 Java Web Start is here.
netBeans is Sun's new Java integrated development environment, written in Java and currently available for Sun and Linux machines.
Eclipse is a new Java-based IDE from IBM being developed in an Open Source model.
JBuilder is Borland's integrated development environment. The Foundation Edition is also on Athena, but the version we have is a bit dated.
Jikes is a high-performance Java compiler that compiles Java source code to bytecode.This too is a bit dated- there haven't been any new releases for some time.
A great deal is available on the Web; a few starting points are below:
Help with Java
If you are affiliated with MIT,
contact Athena Consulting (on
Athena, type "olc"); note that Consulting currently does not support
Java, but can provide basic help in starting up the Java tools on Athena.
Instructors needing assistance with Java for classes should contact
OEIT for help. Otherwise, see
the other resources above.
Sending bug reports
Athena users should report problems
via the "sendbug" command.
Software at MIT
Questions or suggestions about
availability of software on Athena should be sent to
3partysw@mit.edu.
Comments on this page
Questions or comments about this
web page should be sent to acs-web@mit.edu.