Hello World - Java, Maven 2 setUp()

Hi Everyone!


For my first post I will list down the tools I will use until further notice, and how to set up your development environment:


Java JDK 1.6u20 - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/downloads/index.html
Apache Maven 2.2.1 - http://maven.apache.org/download.html


Eclipse Galileo(Yeah I should use Helios, will update soon.) http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/
Eclipse plugins(Add to list of update sites):
M2Eclipse - http://m2eclipse.sonatype.org/sites/m2e
SpringIDE - http://dist.springsource.com/release/TOOLS/update/e3.5


Java may seem complicated to set up at first, but once you've got your environment in place development is a breeze.


First, download and install Java to your preferred location. You might have to manually add the Java installation to your classpath. For windows:


- Right-click your 'My Computer' icon, select 'Properties'
- Click the 'Advanced' tab
- Click the 'Environment Variables' button.
- For my installation, I moved the entire 'PATH' variable from the 'System Variables' to my 'User variables'. Next, you create a JAVA_HOME variable, and for the value put the location of your Java installation, then add %JAVA_HOME%\bin to your path, like below:

To test if you've set up java correctly, run Windows command prompt by going to Run -> cmd. Then at the prompt, type 

java -version 

and press enter. It should show the version of Java you've just installed.


Next, download and install Apache Maven. Maven is a basically a tool for building Java jars, however it also assists in project integration, testing, dependency management, and much more.


And just as Java, you also have to set Maven to the system's PATH. Following the steps above, this time with your Maven 2 installation, your Environment Variables should look like this:

We can test if you have set up Maven properly by typing 



mvn -version

on a new command prompt. It will display your maven version, your java version and the version of your operating system.


I will discuss how to set up Eclipse Galileo and plugins in my next post.


'Til next time!