UW-Parkside CSCI 241 Custom Installation

CSCI 241: Computer Science I Software Installation

This page contains instructions about how and where to install files and documentation related to Computer Science I. You may either get the files from your instructor copied onto a USB drive or download them yourself.

Preparing Your Hard Disk

The instructions that follow assume that you are installing everything on a PC with some version of the Windows operating system. If you wish to install your system on a Linux machine, you will need to download different versions of the Java JDK and BlueJ. Ask your instructor for Linux-specific instructions if you need them. In either case, make sure you install these files in the order specified below. Most files can be installed by simply double-clicking them. The zip files are compressed files which were made using a 'zip' utility, and for our use, you are not required to unpack these files. In fact, you SHOULD NOT unzip the acm.zip file; it will not work properly with BlueJ.

Install BlueJ

In CSCI-241 we will be using BlueJ to write, edit, compile and run programs. When you download BlueJ, you will also get the correct version of Java with it (version 11.0). BlueJ is designed for student use and its installation is very easy. You will want the file named bluej-502.msi, which holds the setup for version 5.0.2 of BlueJ, available in August 2021. Much more information about BlueJ is available on the website (www.bluej.org).

To begin the installation, double-click the file. When the window entitled "Open File - Security Warning" appears, choose to Run the program. Most of the windows that appear are self-explanatory, but here they are in order:

Welcome to the BlueJ Installer: choose Next on this (and most windows) to run the installation process.
Select Destination Location: It first asks for a directory name where BlueJ will reside. Its default setting will make a directory called C:\BlueJ, and this works well.
Select Start Menu folder: This will place BlueJ in your Windows Start Menu list; the default location listed will be fine.
Select Additional Tasks: You can decide whether you want a BlueJ icon on your desktop or not. The default will create one.
Ready to Install: This installation should go much more quickly than installing Java. Click the Install button.
Completing the BlueJ Setup Wizard: You may choose to view the README file or start BlueJ running at this time.

After installing BlueJ, you'll add the special extension program named MainRunner.jar to it. All you need to do for this step is to copy the file inside this folder:

C:\BlueJ\lib\extensions2\

(for Windows). If you are using another operating system, this web page tells you where to save the file: BlueJ 5+ Extensions You may also wish to view the BlueJ tutorial. Download it onto your machine if you wish to have it available as you learn to use BlueJ. There are also videos available on YouTube.

Install the ACM Graphics library

ACM-SIGCSE (Association for Computing Machinery - Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education), an international organization, has developed a library including graphics that new-to-Java students can use in simple programs. We will use this graphics package in several lab exercises and possibly in a programming project this semester.

One reason that software developers like Java is because it is easy to write programs which use code already written and tested by others. You will find both a file and folder related to this package in the collection: acm.zip (the collected byte code for the library) and acm.javadocs (a folder containing Java documentation for this code).

Now start BlueJ by double clicking on the desktop icon. In rare cases, the first time you run BlueJ, it might ask you where it can find Java (it might also automatically detect it if you've installed it in the default location of C:\Program Files\Java\jdk-11.0.6 - note that in this name, Java 11.0 is also referred to as "Java 1.11"). You can browse to this location and then click the Launch BlueJ button.

We also need to tell BlueJ where to find the ACM library we just added. When you installed BlueJ, it created a folder named BlueJ under your C: drive. Copy the acm.zip file so that it goes into this location:

        C:\Program Files\BlueJ\lib\userlib\acm.zip

Notes:

On your machine, it might not be in this exact location, but it was on my Windows 10 machine. If using a Mac, you'll need to Control-Click the BlueJ icon and choose Show Package Contents to reach the folders.
BlueJ does NOT require you to unzip the library. In fact, it won't work if you do.

BlueJ now knows it can look in that location for code you may refer to in your programs.

To test your installation of acm.zip, start running BlueJ again. Create a new project, and create a new class in it named Doodle. Type in the program you saw at the end of Lab #1. If it compiles and runs successfully, BlueJ has found the ACM graphics library.

Since you have started running BlueJ, check that MainRunner.jar installed correctly:

In the top menu line, choose Help, then click Installed Extensions.
You should see Main Program Runner in the "Installed" list.

There are separate documents explaining how to install and use GlobalProtect VPN, FileZilla and Remote Desktop Connection. Please review them after you have installed BlueJ.

That's it! Please let your instructor know how to improve these instructions.

Web source for this document: http://www.cs.uwp.edu/Cs241/Classes/Downloads/howToInstall.html