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Power Java programming—free!

Build an open source IDE with jEdit

By Robert Swarr, JavaWorld.com, 07/11/03

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Sometimes the best things in life are free, like fresh air and sunshine, but not software. Until recently, a professional-grade IDE could have cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. However, after Linux entered the marketplace, open source software proliferated and became competitive with commercial software. Today, open source development tools are as free as fresh air and sunshine, and just as plentiful.

For example, the jEdit programmer's editor is an open source utility with advanced editing features. Using jEdit plug-ins, you can integrate open source development tools such as CVS (Concurrent Versions System), Ant, and JUnit within jEdit's graphical user interface (GUI). This article shows you how to transform jEdit into an IDE comparable to proprietary software. In this article, I use the term open source software instead of free software. To set the record straight, "Sidebar 1: Open Source Software = Free Software" explains the similarities and differences between open source and free software.

IDE features

The first step in building an IDE is answering a simple question: what features should the IDE support? Many developers request features in the following list. These requirements may be the same for you:

Small, fast, intuitive, but powerful programming editor: it starts up and responds quickly; you can use it without spending hours reading documentation; and it has powerful features such as advanced search and replace
Source code beautification: configurable, programmatic formatting of Java source files to a consistent standard
Class browser: tree-structured view of the methods, data members, and inner classes in a Java source file and point-and-click navigation through the file
Project view: tree-structured view of a project's files and point-and-click navigation through the project
Version control: integration with CVS with a graphical interface
In-process compilation: compilation of a Java class in the current edit buffer
Unit-testing framework: integration with JUnit to run automated regression tests within the IDE
Build management: integration with Ant to run build scripts for a project within the IDE
Integrated debugger: when code behaves badly and you don't know why, having a debugger in your toolkit is a blessing
Integrated Javadoc generation and viewing with a graphical interface

You might want to add additional features to the above list based on your requirements.

Build the jEdit IDE

Once you've defined your requirements for an IDE, download and install the software. If you don't have a Java SDK, download one. The development tools need jar and executable files included in the SDK, but omitted from the JRE (Java Runtime Environment).

Installing jEdit is as simple as downloading and running an executable jar file. From the jEdit project homepage, select the Quick Start page and follow that page's directions. Read the installation instructions for your operating system on the download page. To run jEdit, use the Java application loader (javaw) in the SDK, not the JRE, since the development plug-ins will not work properly with the JRE.