Our next step is to choose an Integrated Development Environment (IDE). This makes it far easier to write Java code. We could write all the Java code in Notepad, but it is much easier to let the IDE help us. The IDE has built-in intelligence to automatically complete the code that we are typing in. It also helps us to run the programs that we write. Some teachers prefer their students to type in every single character. It can help to do that initially, but it is not how we usually work when we program.

Programmers tend to get rather passionate about their favourite IDEs. In this course you can choose between:

1. Apache NetBeans (this is what I will be using)
2. IntelliJ (either community or ultimate edition)
3. Eclipse

In the next sections we will show you how to install these IDEs. If you are learning Java, it might be best to at least get familiar with all of them, because your future employer might have standardized on one of them. Having already some knowledge of how it works might be in your favour.