Installing Java JRE and JDK + Netbeans

Short information and steps to install Java JRE and JDK with Netbeans.

On ubuntu you don't get Java preinstalled, lets first see what is Java.

Wikipedia says:

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems (which is now a subsidiary ofOracle Corporation) and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode (class file) that can run on any Java Virtual Machine (JVM) regardless of computer architecture. Java is a general-purpose, concurrent, class-based, object-oriented language that is specifically designed to have as few implementation dependencies as possible. It is intended to let application developers "write once, run anywhere". Java is currently one of the most popular programming languages in use, and is widely used from application software to web applications.^[9][10]

 

So Java softwares can be used anywhere windows, linux, mac, mobile phones and even your car. A ubuntu user would need Java JRE (Java Runtime Environment)  to run Java applications.

To install Java JRE on ubuntu 10.10

Open Applications > Ubuntu Software Center

Now there are two versions of Java available for Ubuntu, one from Sun Microsystems and other Open Java, Sun Java was dropped out and now Ubuntu supports Open Java.

Type "java6" without quotes in your Ubuntu Software Center search box and click "The Java(TM) Runtime Environment(JRE) 6 " > Install.

After installing Java JRE now you would be able to run Java applications.

Installing Java JDK + Netbeans

Java JDK (Java Development Kit) is only necessary if you want to develop Java applications with an external IDE like Netbeans or Eclipse. You can install Java JDK in two ways, one which comes with Netbeans and other in which you have to install Netbeans and Java JDK separately.

You can install Netbeans which comes with JDK directly from Sun Java website (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html)

Alternatively you can also install Netbeans IDE and JDK separately.
First install JDK from Ubuntu Software Center, search "java6" in Ubuntu Software Center search box and install "Sun Java(TM) Development Kit (JDK) 6" then download Netbeans IDE from http://netbeans.com or again from ubuntu software center.

To install Netbeans downloaded from netbeans.com move your file to Home folder and type this in terminal

./name_of_your_file.sh

replace "name_of_your_file" with the name of file in your Home Folder.

This will install Netbeans IDE and Java JDK on your Ubuntu and you can now develop Java apps.

Remember that If you have OpenJDK installed first uninstall it and install Sun Java from Ubuntu software center, Netbeans wont detect OpenJDK.