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Anyone know a good Java IDE for the Pi? I tried downloading Eclipse but it didn't work (probably because it's too heavyweight). I need an IDE with low RAM usage and low memory usage, just so it will actually work :) Help appreciated.

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    I don't think there's any, but why would you want to run a Java IDE on the Pi? If you want to develop applications for the Pi, you can still run the IDE on your computer and test your app on the Pi - I can give more details if you want. Mar 3, 2013 at 21:54
  • Blaisorblade, yes please, more details. I'm guessing we can compile everything on a pc but I'm fuzzy about how to package everything for running on the pi. Others might even more info if they'e not familiar with eclipse.
    – lumpynose
    Mar 4, 2013 at 3:03
  • good points both of you - i want to program on the pi because my laptop is horrendously slow :)
    – imulsion
    Mar 4, 2013 at 20:53
  • I suggest that you use Ant. It makes it easy to compile without a lot of typing at the command line.
    – rickz
    Mar 16, 2013 at 16:07
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    @imulsion, is your laptop older than a pentium 300? May 31, 2014 at 11:39

4 Answers 4

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A simple lightweight IDE is Geany.

apt-get install geany

Geany - support: java syntax highlight, geany projects to store custom javac compile and java run arguments if needed, you need to specify -classpath to include external java libraries. one button compile/run.

I also recommend looking at DrJava, it is also a lightweight IDE written entirely in Java Swing. DrJava got a built-in powerful "interactive" mode that allows quick experimentation with java expressions similar to using interactive python, thus suitable for use by new java students. DrJava support breakpoint debugging and junit test creation. Installation is a snap you download the latest DrJava .jar and run it:

java -jar drjava-stable-20120818-r5686.jar

http://www.drjava.org/

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  • thank you! can't believe this question was closed at one point...
    – imulsion
    Mar 21, 2013 at 10:32
  • Just my opinion as a professional Java programmer just trying something on a Pi: Geany is a piece 'o crap and DrJava is an equal piece 'o crap. Both have no usable content assistant or organize imports feature. Nov 1, 2017 at 9:36
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Going a step further from one of the earlier answers and imho an easier alternative:

NO NEED FOR AN IDE :) keep eclipse-like memory hogs off your pi. Or if you really want to be more hardcore, use vim or emacs with syntax highlighting and compile your .java files to .class files via command-line with javac. Or find some light-weight IDE or sublime text / eclipse replacement. However... if you have a stronger alternative system at your disposal (which I suspect most of us have) and can run eclipse on there, then there's no need for extra work.

  • you can develop a java program on any other IDE on another system
  • once you have your program ready, export it as a runnable jar file
  • copy this jar over to your pi (through SCP if on the same network or flashdrive)
  • run this jar on your pi (java -jar [yourJarName.jar])

Caveats: java compatability between where you developed and with the JRE from the pi (or else you'll get the unsupported major/minor exception)

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You could use BlueJ, it is now optimized for running on the Raspberry Pi.

From version 3.14, BlueJ fully supports the Raspberry Pi

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    BlueJ requires JavaFX. Arm distros of Java JDK don't have JavaFX. What the... Nov 1, 2017 at 9:40
  • Oracle removed the support of JavaFX on ARM with the JDK8u33 at the time of writing this response it was still supported. So you can simply install an older oracle JDK, compile the JDK by yourself and add the support back in or maybe switch to openJDK (not sure if it is supported there).
    – Simulant
    Nov 1, 2017 at 12:56
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BlueJ is the one. It is the best for beginner's level.

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    Can you edit and expand your answer to provide a link, a better description and reasons why it is the best? Nov 18, 2015 at 19:43

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