BlueJ

BlueJ is an educational IDE aimed at learning and teaching Java at school or introductory university level. Started in 1999, this is a long running, ongoing project that has had a high impact in the computing education community.

BlueJ was developed jointly at the University of Kent and Deakin University, and is now being used at more than 700 institutions around the world, making it one of the most successful educational IDEs.

Web: www.bluej.org

Greenfoot

Greenfoot is an integrated Microworld, programmable in Java. Aimed at high school level and above, Greenfoot teaches object-oriented programming via games, simulations, and other fun stuff.

Greenfoot builds on the tradition of other microworlds, such as the Logo turtle and Karel the Robot. In contrast to those, however, Greenfoot does not have a fixed scenario and storyline, but instead provides a microworld framework that can be configured for a wide variety of scenarios and stories.

This allows the implementation of visual simulations and games very easily. Greenfoot is aimed at introducing programming at high school level and above.

Web: www.greenfoot.org

NetBeans IDE / BlueJ Edition

The NetBeans IDE/BlueJ Edition is a variation of the popolar NetBeans IDE.

The standard NetBeans IDE is a full scale development environment designed for profesisonal programmers. The BlueJ Edition is a variant that is designed to build a link from BlueJ to NetBeans. Using some BlueJ Look-And-Feel elements, it makes BlueJ users feel at home, while allowing to gradually unwrap the full functionality of NetBeans.

Textbook: Objects First With Java

The Objects First textbook is a general introductory programming textbook, using the Java language and the BlueJ IDE.

The only book to fully integrate BlueJ into the pedagogical process, it presents a unique approach to the learning of programming. Special strengths are a strong focus on general object orientation principles and a clear software engineering view of the development world.

Web: www.bluej.org/objects-first