Java Compiler
Download JDK 6 (also called Java SE Development Kit (JDK)). Follow the online instructions for this 73.08 MB download.
BlueJ
To download BlueJ, see http://www.bluej.org/download/download.html where you can download the latest version of BlueJ. The Barnes and Kolling BlueJ book also includes the examples (601K .zip file) from that book. See a browsable local copy of these examples. If you are working on these examples in lab, you should save your files either to your desktop or to the H: drive, since you are not allowed to save files on the C: drive. You may consider bringing in a flash drive to save your work.
Once you've downloaded and installed both the Java JDK as well as BlueJ, then launch the BlueJ application. When it first starts it may ask you for help in locating Java. If you have your own Windows machine this will likely be somewhere like:
C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_12\bin\java.exe
See this set of screen shots showing how to write a BlueJ program that gives output to a terminal window.
Eclipse
This is a nice Integrated Development Environment (IDE). For Eclipse, download the latest version from
See the online free book Introduction to Programming Using Java, by David Eck, which includes a downloadable pdf version. See a local copy (Aug. 2009)
Online free book Thinking in Java, 3rd Edition, by Bruce Eckel. You may also browse the source code for the book. See the original download site.
Javabat.com has live Java coding exercises that you can try for free, developed by Nick Parlante at Stanford.
UIC's library has access to the online Safari CS books
Bradley Kjell gives an online beginner's Introduction to Java, along with review questions.
Fred Swartz has an online tutorial for Java Basics
Explanation and many examples are given at Dick Baldwin's Programming Tutorials