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Is there a Java IDE written in Java?

I just got my year 9 DET laptop today at school, and there are all sorts of restrictions set in place. Somewhat annoyingly, you cannot run any executable other than the ones already installed on the system (for some reason they haven't disabled the use of Command Prompt, PowerShell, or strangely enough, regedit). They allow you to run Java executables, so I thought that would be the only way to be able to program on my crappy laptop at school (when I have finished all my work, naturally) :D

Edit:

By written in Java, I also mean that the executable, that is used to run the program, has the file extension ".jar", thus running on the JVM.

Edit 2:

I tried the DrJava IDE, and it worked great, thanks (I can compile and execute programs)! Regarding running Eclipse as through the command line using the command "java -jar "C:/Users.../org.eclipse..."". This results in an error producing a log saying file, the main error is:

MESSAGE An error occurred while automatically activating bundle org.eclipse.ui.workbench (182).

How do I fix this error (I much perfer working with Eclipse than any other IDE)?

Edit 3:

Regarding my last edit, just disregard it :D. I fixed the problem by downloading the latest version of Eclipse.

gnat
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Darestium
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7 Answers7

25

I guess Eclipse is written in Java and is also the best IDE.

Also check tIDE and BlueJ 2.

edoreld
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RPK
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24

One IDE I have been working with is Netbeans. It's a VERY popular IDE that's fully written in Java.

The best part, it's free, easy to use, and whatnot. I've found it to be very useful when trying to program Windows applications in Java. You can find some useful articles here.

Netbeans also has plugins, also written in Java if that's your interest, which can either put less weights on your shoulder and whatnot. It also works for PHP and C/C++ so it's amazing.

Bugster
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19

Jetbrains has recently made much of their IntelliJ IDE, which is written in Java, as open-source. Mostly what is missing in the "Community Edition" is support for web-based and enterprise apps.

You can download a binary, or download the source and source and build it yourself using the JSDK and some additional libraries.

They also sell an academic version of the full version of the IDE for $99. Here is a comparison of the free and paid versions.

tcrosley
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18

Eclipse is written in Java.

"Written in Java" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_%28software%29

EDIT: To address the question's edit about running the IDE as a .JAR file:

"Alternatively, you can launch Eclipse by directly invoking the JVM as follows:

java -jar eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.0.0.v20070606.jar "

Source: http://wiki.eclipse.org/FAQ_How_do_I_run_Eclipse%3F

Xonatron
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7

The IDE DrJava developed at Rice University is entirely written in Java and is obtained as a jar file. It has many nice features for beginning programmers, including an Python-like interactive shell. Get it here.

ncmathsadist
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Can you boot from your thumb drive? If so, then that's the way to go. I'm sure you can find a version of Ubuntu or Mint that you can set up, and then you can do whatever you need.

If you can't even do that, you might want to try writing a launcher of some sort. Just a simple Java program that takes your command arguments and executes them from the Java runtime (basically Runtime.exec("your commands here");). I have no idea how they've locked down your laptop, so I can't say whether it'll work or not, but it should be quick enough to try.

TMN
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Though, I am not sure if I would label it an "IDE", it is a text editor centred around programmers and does come in executable JAR format. Take a look at jEdit, I have provided a link below to the download page.

In your case, you would download the Java-based installer.

http://www.jedit.org/index.php?page=download

There are many plugin(s) available, so, you could essentially build it into an IDE. It got a favourable reception as well, you can see this on the Wikipedia page below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JEdit

V_P
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