Installing programs
Most software comes with installers that work very well. Due to the variety of operating systems (Windows and otherwise), I probably can't help you with installation problems.
Java APIs are usually distributed as .jar files. The easiest way
to install these is to put these files into your jdk1.4.0/lib directory;
do not unjar them! If you already have some jar files with the same name,
put the new jar file(s) in some other directory, and add this new directory
to your classpath; you can find instructions for modifying your classpath at
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/tooldocs/windows/classpath.html.
The following software is listed in approximately the order you will need them; software later in the list will be required later in the course. If there are newer versions than I have listed here, you probably want to get the newer versions; but avoid any beta versions. All required software, and probably all optional software, is free.
Download the most recent stable (non-beta) version from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/download.html.
It's a good idea to also download the API documentation. Note: Versions
prior to Java 1.4.0 lack the regular expression package, which we need for this
course, and the assert statement, which I encourage you to use..
To be sure it's installed correctly, go to a command line and type java
-version
Forté (optional)
If you are familiar with Forté and wish to use it, it's probably easiest
to download Forté along with the Java SDK; they are provided as a single
bundle. Note: Java's new assert statement cannot be handled
by older versions of Forté, so you should upgrade from the version you used
last year.
BlueJ (optional)
If you wish to use BlueJ, get version 1.2 or later from http://www.bluej.org/
. Note: Java's new assert statement cannot be handled by
BlueJ versions prior to version 1.2.
jEdit (optional)
My favorite text editor is jEdit, from http://www.jedit.org/.
jEdit has some very nice optional features for editing XML, checking it for
well-structuredness, and displaying XML files in tree form. To get these, use
jEdit's Plugin Manager command.
If you are an emacs user, emacs probably has comparable features.
XML Validator
This is a program embedded in a Web page. Using Internet Explorer, go to http://www.openhealth.org/ASTM/MSXMLValid.html
and save a copy of the Web page with File -> Save as...,
choosing Web page, complete (*.htm, *.html).
You can use Netscape to download this page, but (for me, at least) Netscape
doesn't allow you to fill in the form.
You need this program, or one like it, to validate your XML pages before you submit them for grading.
Xerces
Xerces is a Java parser, with both SAX and DOM APIs. Go to http://xml.apache.org/xerces2-j/index.html
and download and unzip Xerces-J-bin.2.0.2.zip and Xerces-J-tools.2.0.2.zip.
Install the jar files. Along with Xerces and its associated documentation, you
will find several additional tools: Xalan, Ant, JUnit,
and Stylebook. We will use most or all of these tools.
Full SAXON
SAXON is an XSLT processor. Download the latest recommended version from http://saxon.sourceforge.net and unzip it. (Note: Instant SAXON is only useful with the