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| BlueJ supports: |
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fully
integrated environment |
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graphical
class structure display |
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graphical
and textual editing |
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built-in
editor, compiler, virtual machine, debugger, etc. |
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easy-to-use
interface, ideal for beginners |
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interactive
object creation |
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interactive
object calls |
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interactive
testing |
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incremental
application development |
The
BlueJ environment was developed as part of a university
research project about teaching object-orientation to beginners.
The system is being developed and maintained by a joint
research
group at La Trobe University,
Melbourne, Australia, and the University
of Kent in Canterbury, UK. The project is supported
by Sun
Microsystems.
The
aim of BlueJ is to provide an easy-to-use teaching environment
for the Java language that facilitates the teaching of Java
to first year students. Special emphasis has been placed on
visualisation and interaction techniques to create a highly
interactive environment that encourages experimentation and
exploration.
BlueJ
is based on the Blue
system. Blue is an integrated teaching environment and
language, developed at the University
of Sydney and Monash
University, Australia. BlueJ provides a Blue-like
environment for the Java language.
The
BlueJ project started at Monash University in Melbourne,
and later split and migrated to its current locations.
BlueJ is implemented in Java, and regularly being
tested on Solaris, Linux, Macintosh, and various Windows versions.
It should run on all platforms supporting a recent Java virtual
machine.
Where
is BlueJ going?
The environment itself is stable and in widespread
use. Maintenance work is continuing to improve the system and
add some new functionality. Ideas on our to-do list include
group work support and scripting.
More
information
Some papers describing various aspects of BlueJ,
its design goals and teaching strategies are
available here.
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