Questions re Install etc from C++ user

[de_]

Is the complete Java IDE Win PC install package in the "WPILIB Java FRC 2011 version 4.8.zip" file. I understand the ide ( & compiler ?) is called Netbeans.

Any doc anywhere re how to configure and use Netbeans for C-Rio ? Debug, download, etc etc. I can't afford to lose any more hair than I did on Wind River last year

Is this the first year Netbeans has been used for Java at First ? I know Java has been used by some teams in the past but don't know what ide and how mainstream it was or is in First

What is missing in C-Rio support in Java versus C++ ? threads ?
Does it provide source line level tracebacks for unexpected exceptions ?

How is the camera performance in Java ?

Does Netbeans work glitch free on 64 & 32 bit versions of Windows 7, Vista or XP ? Anyone better than the other ?

Are there sample projects for simple robot and iterative robot somewhere like there was for C++ ?

[Patrick Chiang]

To install the plugins for Netbeans, add a plugin source: "http://first.wpi.edu/FRC/java/netbeans/update/updates.xml" and install all the "FRC plugins". For more instructions, read http://first.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/First/Getting_Started_with_Java_for_FRC.pdf

We haven't started with Java yet this year (still brainstorming), but last year it didn't give us any problem at all. We switched from LabView to Java because we couldn't deal with the limitations of Labview, and found Java to be much easier to manage and debug.

I can't say it was glitch free, but there really wasn't a lot of issues that weren't our fault.

There are a lot of sample projects, including the simple project, the one that gives you everything you need, and the one that does vision.

[BradAMiller]

Check out the FIRSTForge WPILib project that you can see here: http://firstforge.wpi.edu/sf/projects/wpilib. The Documents area has a Getting Started with Java.pdf file that describes the installation process. There is also a FAQ in the Wiki area that will probably answer most questions.