Software Setup

Here are SDKs available for other platforms. However, these days the following platforms are comparatively less used. Please double check your platform before downloading the following SDKs. Note that this is version 22 of JavaFX, which should, but may not fully work with JDK 17.

• Linux arm64

Linux#

We assume you’ve already have Git installed following the instructions above.

Step 1: Install IntelliJ Idea#

If you’ve downloaded IntelliJ Idea from the JetBrains website, you can install it by following the instructions inside the downloaded package.

It can be much easier to install IntelliJ Idea using your package manager. You can follow JetBrains’ official guide.

Step 2: Install the JDK#

Linux users usually find it easier to install the JDK using their package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can install the JDK by typing the following command at the command line:

sudo apt install openjdk-17-jdk

Another advantage of installing the JDK using your package manager is that you don’t need to worry about setting the environment variable.

Alternatively, you can install the JDK directly through IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open a project in IntelliJ Idea, and then select File -> Project Structure -> Project. In the SDK section, click the Add SDK option and select Download JDK.

You then need to select the right JDK version that matches this course’s current JDK version. Next, pick a vendor (we recommend AdoptOpenJDK). Before clicking Download, you need to write down the path to the JDK. Please copy the Location of the JDK and paste it somewhere safe. You will need it later for setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

If you decide not to go with these recomended two options and want to install the JDK manually, you will need to Unzip/untar/install the JDK to an appropriate location, e.g./usr/local/java/openjdk. Please remember this path as we will use it later for JAVA_HOME. You can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 3: Install JavaFX SDK#

Next, you will need to install the JavaFX SDK. Now you should have downloaded the JavaFX SDK for your platform. Unzip/untar/install the SDK to an appropriate location, e.g. /usr/local/java/openjfx. Please remember this path as we will use it later for PATH_TO_FX. Again, you can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 4: Set up the environment variables#

You now should have recorded two paths: one for the JDK and one for the JavaFX.

Based on our example above, these are:

• /usr/local/java/openjdk - related to the JDK
• /usr/local/java/openjfx - related to the JavaFX SDK

You need to Set the PATH environment variable to include the bin directory of your JDK installation. If you were using the package manager to install the JDK, you can skip this step.

You will also need to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the top-level directory of your JDK installation.

Finally, you need to set the PATH_TO_FX environment variable to point to the lib directory of your JavaFX installation.

To edit environment variables, you need to edit the ~/.bashrc file (or other rc files which depends on the shell you are using).

... # keep other configurations in your .bashrc file

export PATH=/usr/local/java/openjdk/[CHANGEME]/bin:$PATH
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java/openjdk/[CHANGEME]
export PATH_TO_FX=/usr/local/java/openjfx/[CHANGEME]/lib

Notice the [CHANGEME] part. You need to replace it with the actual path you have on your system. It might look like jdk-17.0.10 for JDK and javafx-sdk-17.0.10 for the JavaFX SDK. You can find the path by typing ls /usr/local/java/openjdk at the command line.

After setting up the environment variables, you need to reload the ~/.bashrc by typing source ~/.bashrc at the command line.

You will also need to set the PATH_TO_FX variable in IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open IntelliJ Idea and select File -> Settings... -> Appearance and Behavior -> Path Variables and then add a new path variable (select the plus sign) with name PATH_TO_FX and value equal to the path to your JavaFX installation lib directory, as we did before.

Step 5: Complete the set up#

We can do a quick check to see if everything is set up correctly (optional).

• Java: Verify the version of your installation by typing java -version (the output should start with openjdk version "17" or something similar, depending on the build).
• JavaFX: Verify your installation by compiling and running the HelloFX.java example as described in the JavaFX installation instructions.

We assume you’ve already have Git installed following the instructions above.

Step 0: Prelude - Install Homebrew (optional)#

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS. It makes all the upcoming installations so much easier. You can follow the official guide to install Homebrew. However, we DO NOT provide any support for Homebrew related issues. This is an entirely optional step.

Step 1: Install IntelliJ Idea#

If you have Homebrew installed, you can install IntelliJ Idea by typing the following command at the command line:

brew install --cask intellij-idea-ce

Otherwise you can download IntelliJ Idea from the JetBrains website, as described here.

Step 2: Install the JDK#

Again, if you have Homebrew, this is how you can install the JDK:

brew install openjdk@17

Another advantage of installing the JDK using Homebrew is that you don’t need to worry about setting the PATH environment variable later.

Alternatively, you can install the JDK directly through IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open a project in IntelliJ Idea, and then select File -> Project Structure -> Project. In the SDK section, click the Add SDK option and select Download JDK.

You then need to select the right JDK version that matches this course’s current JDK version. Next, pick a vendor (we recommend AdoptOpenJDK). Before clicking Download, you need to write down the path to the JDK. Please copy the Location of the JDK and paste it somewhere safe. You will need it later for setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

Although we don’t recommend this, you may still decide not to go with these two options and want to install the JDK manually. You then need to unzip/untar/install the JDK to an appropriate location, e.g./Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines. Please remember this path as we will use it later for JAVA_HOME. You can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 3: Install JavaFX SDK#

Next, you will need to install the JavaFX SDK. Now you should have downloaded the JavaFX SDK for your platform. Unzip/untar/install the SDK to an appropriate location, e.g. /Library/Java/JavaFX. Please remember this path as we will use it later for PATH_TO_FX. Again, you can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 4: Set up the environment variables#

You now should have recorded two paths: one for the JDK and one for the JavaFX.

Based on our example above, these are:

• /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines - related to the JDK
• /Library/Java/JavaFX - related to the JavaFX SDK

You need to Set the PATH environment variable to include the bin directory of your JDK installation. If you were using the Homebrew to install the JDK, you can skip this step.

You will also need to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the top-level directory of your JDK installation.

Finally, you need to set the PATH_TO_FX environment variable to point to the lib directory of your JavaFX installation.

To edit environment variables, you need to edit the ~/.zshrc file (or other rc files which depends on the shell you are using). If it’s the first time you are editing this file, you need to create it first. You can do this by typing touch ~/.zshrc at the command line. Then type open ~/.zshrc to open the file in your default text editor.

... # keep other configurations in your .bashrc file

export PATH=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/[CHANGEME]/Contents/Home/bin:$PATH
export JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/[CHANGEME]/Contents/Home
export PATH_TO_FX=/Library/Java/JavaFX/[CHANGEME]/lib

Notice the [CHANGEME] part. You need to replace it with the actual path you have on your system. It might look like jdk-17.0.6 for JDK and javafx-sdk-17.0.6 for the JavaFX SDK. You can find the path by typing open /Library/Java/ at the command line.

After setting up the environment variables, you need to reload the ~/.zshrc by typing source ~/.zshrc at the command line.

You will also need to set the PATH_TO_FX variable in IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open IntelliJ Idea and select File -> Settings... -> Appearance and Behavior -> Path Variables and then add a new path variable (select the plus sign) with name PATH_TO_FX and value equal to the path to your JavaFX installation lib directory, as we did before.

Step 5: Complete the set up#

We can do a quick check to see if everything is set up correctly (optional).

• Java: Verify the version of your installation by typing java -version (the output should start with openjdk version "17" or something similar, depending on the build).
• JavaFX: Verify your installation by compiling and running the HelloFX.java example as described in the JavaFX installation instructions.

We assume you’ve already have Git and Windows Terminal installed following the instructions above.

Step 1: Install IntelliJ Idea#

You can download IntelliJ Idea from the JetBrains website, as described here.

Step 2: Install the JDK#

You can install the JDK directly through IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open a project in IntelliJ Idea, and then select File -> Project Structure -> Project. In the SDK section, click the Add SDK option and select Download JDK.

You then need to select the right JDK version that matches this course’s current JDK version. Next, pick a vendor (we recommend AdoptOpenJDK). Before clicking Download, you need to write down the path to the JDK. Please copy the Location of the JDK and paste it somewhere safe. You will need it later for setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

Alternatively, you can install the JDK manually, you will need to Unzip/untar/install the JDK to an appropriate location, e.g.C:\\Program Files\\Java. Please remember this path as we will use it later for JAVA_HOME. You can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 3: Install JavaFX SDK#

Next, you will need to install the JavaFX SDK. Now you should have downloaded the JavaFX SDK for your platform. Unzip/untar/install the SDK to an appropriate location, e.g. C:\\Program Files\\Java. Please remember this path as we will use it later for PATH_TO_FX. Again, you can pick a location that’s different to our example here - just make sure you remember it!

Step 4: Set up the environment variables#

You need to Set the PATH environment variable to include the bin directory of your JDK installation. If you were using the package manager to install the JDK, you can skip this step.

You will also need to set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the top-level directory of your JDK installation.

Finally, you need to set the PATH_TO_FX environment variable to point to the lib directory of your JavaFX installation.

To edit environment variables, you need to first open the “Control Panel” and search for “Edit the system environment variables”. Click on “Edit the system environment variables” and then click on “Environment Variables…” button.

You will see a window with two sections: “User variables for [your username]” and “System variables”.

For the PATH environment variable, you need to edit Path in the “System variables” section. Click on “Path” and then click on “Edit…”. Then click on “New…” and add the path to the bin directory of your JDK installation. The path should look something like C:\\Program Files\\Java\\[CHANGEME]\\bin. Check it before you click “OK”.

For the JAVA_HOME environment variable, you need to create a new variable. Click on “New…” in the “System variables” section. The Variable name should be JAVA_HOME and the Variable value should be the path to the top-level directory of your JDK installation. The path should look something like C:\\Program Files\\Java\\[CHANGEME]. Check it before you click “OK”.

For the PATH_TO_FX environment variable, you need to create a new variable. Click on “New…” in the “System variables” section. The Variable name should be PATH_TO_FX and the Variable value should be the path to the lib directory of your JavaFX installation. The path should look something like C:\\Program Files\\Java\\[CHANGEME]\\lib. Check it before you click “OK”.

Notice the [CHANGEME] part. You need to replace it with the actual path you have on your system. It might look like jdk-17.0.10 for JDK and javafx-sdk-17.0.10 for the JavaFX SDK. You can find the path by revisiting the location where you installed the JDK and JavaFX SDK.

You will also need to set the PATH_TO_FX variable in IntelliJ Idea. To do this, open IntelliJ Idea and select File -> Settings... -> Appearance and Behavior -> Path Variables and then add a new path variable (select the plus sign) with name PATH_TO_FX and value equal to the path to your JavaFX installation lib directory, as we did before.

Step 5: Complete the set up#

We can do a quick check to see if everything is set up correctly (optional).

• Java: Verify the version of your installation by typing java -version (the output should start with openjdk version "17" or something similar, depending on the build).
• JavaFX: Verify your installation by compiling and running the HelloFX.java example as described in the JavaFX installation instructions.