This semester all projects are to be written in Java. The version on the detective cluster is 1.4 and can be downloaded at:
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/download.html
The online version of the documentation is at
http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/docs/api/index.html
We highly recommend that you download the Java sdk and do most of your work from home-if nothing else this will lighten the load on the now overworked DC machines, which can become very slow as lower-level project due dates approach. However, you should be aware that this approach has inherent risks.
As in most CMSC classes, your projects will be graded according to how they execute on the detective cluster machines (dc.umd.edu). In fact, you will not be able to submit your CMSC 420 projects for grading unless they compile and execute the primary data correctly.
Similarly, you should make regular backups of your work to ensure that your grade will not suffer from any catastrophic failure of your home system.
While there should not be any portability issues long as you develop your code using the correct Java version, it's still a good idea to download your code regularly to be sure that a copy of your project exists on the cluster and works. In fact, you should make regular verification that your program executes correctly on the target platform as a part of your design and development process.
We'll eventually be working with graphics, and if you use ssh to access the detective cluster from home, you will have to figure out how to set up an X-server to support drawing on your own machine. The difficulty of this task will vary depending on your computer's configuration. So, even if you use JAVA on your local machine, and don't have to worry about messing around with an X-server, you should visit an on-campus machine to test your drawing functions.