compile from notepad++

[rivci]

ooo,

Is it possible to compile and run java from notepad++ ? What about Textpad ?
How?

It's very annoying to type 'java' and 'javac' in commad prompt each time I want to compile and run my java code

[v0id]

There are IDE's specific for Java. I'll suggest you to look into one or some of them, instead of an all-around text-editor. Some of the most popular are:

• NetBeans
• BlueJ
• Eclipse
• JCreator

Use Google to reach them.

[John]

Eclipse is by far the best Java IDE.

[G_Morgan]

AFAIK, Textpad can compile Java from within the editor because they use it in University (I haven't used their machines for a while, prefer my laptop. Sure that the above is the case though).

I really recommend Netbeans. Version 6 is out soon and has basically combined most of the nice Sun backed extensions for 5.5 into the core.

[John]

Originally Posted by G_Morgan

AFAIK, Textpad can compile Java from within the editor because they use it in University (I haven't used their machines for a while, prefer my laptop. Sure that the above is the case though).

I really recommend Netbeans. Version 6 is out soon and has basically combined most of the nice Sun backed extensions for 5.5 into the core.

Personally I've never used Netbeans, but from my experience with people posting their code that they created in Netbeans, its absolutely horrible code. I can only speculate, but it seems like the Microsoft Frontpage of Java.

[G_Morgan]

How does an IDE affect the code people post?

It's true that often auto-completion is used as a crutch and leaves you with unreadable code thanks to method names that could be mistaken for novels. That's a problem in all IDE's (unfortunately Java standards encourage unreadable long method names exacerbating this).

It's also possible/likely that IDE's attract poorer programmers to begin with. I think this most likely accounts for your experience.

Or are you talking about code generation through things like the GUI builder or the UML module?

In the end it comes down to the user though. If the user writes messy code because he uses a feature as a crutch that's his own fault. Whenever I have used an IDE it has never lowered the quality of what I do. Then again I make an effort not to write code that looks like

'object.myVeryLongMethodNameJustSpeedsUpAnnoyingSa neProgrammersEverywhereOnThePlanetInAllOfHistory() ;'

This verbose tendency is the worse thing about Java but is little to do with Netbeans itself. Also Netbeans does more than just Java these days. It has competent support for C/C++ and now Ruby.

[John]

If the user writes every line of code by themselves the IDE has hardly anything to do with their code - it just seems that most people who use Netbeans use the GUI builder because a) they are too lazy to build it themselves or b) they don't know how to do it themselves. Then they come to a [this] forum and expect people to debug code that looks like this:

javax.swing.GroupLayout layout = new javax.swing.GroupLayout(getContentPane());
        getContentPane().setLayout(layout);
        layout.setHorizontalGroup(
            layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING)
            .addGroup(layout.createSequentialGroup()
                .addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING, false)
                    .addGroup(layout.createSequentialGroup()
                        .addGap(73, 73, 73)
                        .addGroup(layout.createParallelGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.LEADING)
                            .addGroup(javax.swing.GroupLayout.Alignment.TRAILING, layout.createSequentialGroup()
                                .addComponent(jLabel1)
                                .addPreferredGap(javax.swing.LayoutStyle.ComponentPlacement.RELATED)
                                .addComponent(jComboBox1, javax.swing.GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE, javax.swing.GroupLayout.DEFAULT_SIZE, javax.swing.GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE))
                            .addComponent(jButton1)))
                    .addGroup(layout.createSequentialGroup()
                        .addContainerGap(34, Short.MAX_VALUE)
                        .addComponent(jScrollPane1, javax.swing.GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE, 229, javax.swing.GroupLayout.PREFERRED_SIZE)))
                .addContainerGap())
        ); 

I've built several games [Scrabble, Monopoly] along with a few other professional GUI's [file uploader, signature generator] and I never had code that looked like that. Why? Because its a product of Netbeans.

Also Eclipse does a lot more than just Java. It also does C/C++, PHP, AJAX, COBOL to name a few -- is also used as the platform of many other IDE's such as Adobe Flex [$499]

[G_Morgan]

I know Eclipse does more than Java. I've used it previously. It's just you said Netbeans is the Frontpage of Java while it's so much more these days. I find the Netbeans extensions to be of very high quality since most of them are backed directly by Sun.

Eclipse has the same Metisse GUI builder as Netbeans so is capable of generating the same unreadable code.

The problem here is a particular section of Netbeans and it isn't even specific to Netbeans. All GUI builders I've ever seen are rubbish, there's an unwritten rule that none of them can ever be sane and generate code as you'd write it by hand (lots of reasons for this, MS like to lock you into their VS platform, some gain minor performance improvements at the expense of all readability).

If you want to blame anyone then blame MS for making flaky tools of questionable benefit to productivity the norm. By pushing flashy and generally worthless nonsense like GUI builders ahead of actually useful technology like unit testing and refactoring support they have polluted whole sections of the population with stupidity. Those who have been infected will produce rubbish code wherever they go because they will only touch platforms with ad hoc code generation which they don't understand.

The point. Good programmers will produce good code with any IDE. Bad programmers will produce bad code with any IDE. The only question is what tools the IDE provides which allows both to reach their inevitable conclusion the quickest. I just find Netbeans does that quicker for me.

[lamagra]

You cannot compile using notepad ++ but you can do it using the command line operators and or create a batch file that will compile and run it.