You want to learn Java and you have a good reason for it. Java is a modern and well-established application programming language, which is widely used in many industries, be it telecommunication, finance, or something else. Java developer positions are the most numerous and, probably, the best paid. This, among other things, makes the language lucrative for young professionals to learn. On the other hand, this is not without reason. Java language, the tools, and the whole infrastructure around it is complex and compound. Becoming a Java professional does not happen in a day or week; it is a work of many years. To be a Java expert, you need to know not only about the programming language but also about object-oriented programming principles, open source libraries, application servers, network, databases, and many other things that you can become an expert in. Nevertheless, learning the language is an absolute must that all other practices should build on. Through this book, you will be able to learn Java version 9 and a bit more.

In this chapter, you will be introduced to the Java environment and given step-by-step instructions on how to install it, edit sample code, compile, and run Java. You will get acquainted with the basic tools that help development, be they are a part of Java or are provided by other vendors. We will cover the following topics in this chapter:

• Introduction to Java
• Installing Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X
• Executing jshell
• Using other Java tools
• Using integrated development environment