BlueJ for Java on Windows is an integrated development environment that allows you to develop Java programs quickly and easily. It is an open-source tool that allows users to teach people about the Java programming environment. It comes equipped with graphical class structures, an editor, compiler, virtual machine, and debugger.
The interface is user-friendly, consisting of a standard window with a simple structure. Creating a new project requires you to specify the saving directory and file name. You can create a new class and establish its name and type (e.g. class, abstract class, interface, applet), insert a “uses” relation between two classes as well as “inheritance”.
You can build new packages, rebuild them, add classes from the file, use a library class, as well as import directories. Double-clicking a class in the list gives you access to the source code and documentation.
BlueJ For Java IDE Features
- Simple: It has a deliberately smaller and simpler interface than professional environments like NetBeans or Eclipse. This allows beginners to get started more quickly, and without being overwhelmed.
- Designed for teaching: The IDE is deliberately designed with good pedagogy in mind. There is a popular textbook designed for teaching introductory university/college courses with the app, and a site full of teaching resources.
- Interactive: It allows you to interact with objects. You can inspect their value, call methods on them, pass them as parameters, and more. You can also directly invoke Java expressions without compiling. Thus the tool is a powerful graphical shell/REPL for Java.
- Portable: It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and other platforms that run Java. It can also run without installation from a USB stick.
- Mature: It is over fifteen years old, but continues to be updated and supported by a full-time team. It aims to respond to all technical support requests within one working day.
- Innovative: This software has several features not seen before in other IDEs. Its object bench, code pad, and scope coloring were all original BlueJ features.
BlueJ’s text editor features unique scope highlighting, where the background of each code block is colored to allow you to visually scan the code much faster. It also helps in spotting misplaced curly brackets. Objects can be inspected while the program is running. The contents of fields are displayed to aid understanding and debugging. As well as allowing inspection of objects while the program is running, objects can be dynamically created, and their methods can be invoked. You can also invoke Java code directly, without compilation, just by typing it in. The result is printed out, and can then be inspected, manipulated, or passed as a parameter to another method call.
It provides comments in every section of the source code, along with examples of methods. After editing it, you can compile the code and save it. The project can be exported to JAR.
Other options of BlueJ let you reconfigure keyboard shortcuts, change the UI language, customize editor properties, reset the virtual machine, view the debugger, and more.
Pros And Cons of BlueJ For Java IDE
| Pros | Cons |
| It is a full-featured Java environment but easy to use | It may be prone to instability |
| Clean and clear interface | |
| Ideal for beginners and those learning Java |
System Requirements
| Requirements | Java JDK |
BlueJ Software Older Versions
| Version Name | Size | Download |
| BlueJ-windows-422 | 232 MB | Download |
Alternatives
- IntelliJ IDEA
- Programming Hub
- SitePoint
- LanceBase
- CodeAvengers
Technical Specification
| Software Name | BlueJ IDE Software For Windows V 5.0.2 |
| File Size | 239 MB |
| Languages | English, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, German, Japanese |
| License | Opensource |
| Developer | Michael Kolling |
Conclusion
BlueJ for Java software contains the necessary and sufficient elements for a standard Java teaching tool. There is also a portable edition available if you want to run it from pen drives on any machine easily.