Installing Java and jGRASP on your home computer

Table of Contents

Install Java

  1. Go to the Java downloads page.
  2. Near the top middle of the page, you should see "Java SE Downloads", click on the "DOWNLOAD" Icon above the phrase "Java Platform (JDK) 8u… (8u… is the current release). You do NOT need NetBeans.
  3. Above the list of downloads, you will see a button to "Accept License Agreement". Please read the agreement, and if you wish to continue, click to Accept the agreement.
  4. Select the correct version of Java for your operating system. If you have a 64 bit version of Windows 7 or 8, select: Windows x64. If you have Windows 10, you are running 64 bit. If you, have a 32 bit version, select Windows x86. If you are unsure, visit this Microsoft webpage for more information. If you are using Mac OS X (10.8 or newer), select Mac OS X.
  5. Once you have downloaded the installer, run it like you would any other installer. Select all default settings.

Install jGRASP

  1. Visit jgrasp.org, and click the Download link on the top-left side of the screen.
  2. Optionally, fill out your user information.
  3. Download the appropriate installer below the survey, depending on which operating system you are running. You'll have to choose which version of jGRASP to download. The version numbers keep changing so its hard to keep these instructions precise, but usually they offer too versions: a bleeding-edge prerelease (at the time I'm writing this, it's version 2.0.4 Alpha 5), and a more stable release (currently 2.0.3_04). Download the more stable release, which is likely the second one. There aren't any new features that will matter for what we're doing, and it will make more sense for you to be using the better-tested version.
  4. Install it as you would any other application.