About the Java Language Tutorial

The Java Language Tutorial: Object-Oriented Programming for the Internet is a practical, on-line guide to writing programs in the Java language.

Note: This document reflects the Java Developer's Kit (Version 1.0 Beta2) release.

• This is a DRAFT!
• Copyright
• Where is it?
• What's New?
• About the Applet References in the Tutorial
• Downloading the Java Language Tutorial

This tutorial is a DRAFT: it's incomplete, buggy, and may contain bad links. We're making this tutorial available to you for two reasons:

1. So you can learn from it -- some of the information in this tutorial is not documented anywhere else.
2. So we can get feedback on this tutorial.

To help us with #2, please let us know what's confusing in these lessons, what seems unnecessary, and whether the lessons helped you at all. Write us at java@java.sun.com or Submit a Bug Report.

Copyright

All of the material in The Java Language Tutorial is copyright protected and may not be published in other works without express written permission from Sun Microsystems. You can use source code from the examples in this work as a basis for your own non-commercial Java programs.

The Java Language Tutorial lives at our website along with all of our other documentation. You can read it "over-the-wire" by clicking on this link to the tutorial's Trail Map or you can download the tutorial in HTML or PostScript formats.

12 Dec 95 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

• Made the few changes necessary to reflect Beta2 instead of Beta.
• Fixed various typos, bugs and broken links.
• Jan Kärrman from Uppsala University, Sweden, gave us a new version of the Perl script, html2ps, that we use to generate PostScript files from HTML. This new version supports images, page breaks and page numbers. So, now there is only one PostScript file per lesson. You can download the PostScript files or the HTML versions.
• Added a new lesson, Handling Errors using Exceptions, in the Writing Java Programs trail.

13 Nov 95 -- Updated the Second DRAFT

• Made the few changes necessary to reflect Beta instead of Pre-Beta.
• Changed the name of this document from "The Java Programmer's Guide" to "The Java Language Tutorial: Object-Oriented Programming for the Internet." Why the long name? This document is going to be published as a book, and we wanted to make sure the title was as descriptive as possible, without requiring much prior knowledge of the potential buyer.
• Added ALT text to our link graphics, so that people using non-graphical browsers can understand the information the graphic was conveying.
• Added a new lesson, Using Layout Managers, in the Creating a User Interface trail.

2 Oct 95 -- Released the Second DRAFT

• Everything was updated to reflect the new APIs (except for The "run:" Protocol Handler and The "text/plain" Content Handler in the Getting Started trail).
• We fixed many typos, clarified many obfuscations, fixed broken links and miscommunications.
• We got a face-lift with new icons and a new page design.
• And, we added these trails and lessons:
  • The Writing Applets trail has a new lesson: The Anatomy of an Applet which describes how applets work and how you use the Applet class to create an applet.
  • The new Creating a User Interface trail has two new lessons: Overview of UI Elements which introduces you to the objects that the Java development environment provides for building UIs, and Arranging Components within a Container which tells you how to use each of the Components provided in the AWT.
  • We've added a trail The Java Development Environment that provides a tour of the packages provided with the development environment, talks about the different tools including the new prototype debugger. This trail includes a lesson on Using System Resources.
  • We've also added the Integrating Native Methods into Java Programs trail that shows you how to integrate native methods into your Java programs. Currently, this trail contains two lessons. The first, Step By Step, walks you through an example showing you each step you take to implement a native method. The second, A Comprehensive Example, which is largely unfinished, is an example that implements a "character-replacement" program using native methods.
  • And finally, two new lessons have been added to the Writing Java Programs trail: Threads of Control and Object-Oriented Programming Concepts: A Primer.

18 May 95 -- Released the First DRAFT

Applet references in these pages actually contain references to two different versions of the applet:

• a 1.0alpha3 compatible version which you can view these using the 1.0alpha3 version of the HotJava browser
• a Beta-compatible version which you can view these using the appletviewer or other Beta-compatible browser

Note to 1.0alpha3 Developers: This programmer's tutorial doesn't contain any information on how to upgrade your 1.0alpha3 Java applets to the 1.0 Beta release. For more information on how to do this please refer to Converting Applets.

UNIX

UNIX users can download a compressed tar file containing the tutorial in HTML format or in PostScript format. Note that our PostScript files are generated from HTML using Jan Kärrman's wonderful html2ps script.

HTML format

Approximate size when compressed: 900K
Approximate size when uncompressed: 1,840K

PostScript format

Approximate size when compressed: 940K
Approximate size when uncompressed: 5M

Windows/DOS

Windows/DOS users can download a zip file containing the tutorial in HTML format or in PostScript format.

HTML format

Approximate size when compressed: 825K
Approximate size when uncompressed: 1,840K

PostScript format

Approximate size when compressed: 655K
Approximate size when uncompressed: 5M