Ronald E. McNair Program


Edward Dillon
Name: Edward Dillon
School: University of Mississippi
Major: Computer Science
Mentor: Dr. Dawn Wilkins
Expected Graduation Date: May 2007  
Organizations & Honors: 
• IMAGE
• McNair 
• Member of Upsilon Phi Epsilon (National Honor Society for Computer Science)  
• First Year Latin Award 
• National Dean's List (recognition) 
E-MAIL: ecdillon@olemiss.edu 


 


 

ABSTRACT

Suitability of Environments for Novice Java Programmers


For programmers who are new to the language of Java, it is traditional that they start writing programs on a simple text editor such as Notepad and use a separate compiler invoked at the Command Prompt. Alternatively, an environment known as an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is available to aid users in writing code and producing programs more efficiently. However, there are some problems concerning whether IDEs are too complex for novice users to understand. This research carefully examines Java IDEs to compare and contrast the IDE vs text editor approach, with the goal of recommending an appropriate software environment for novice programmers.