PS 2: Configuring Your Work Environment

Install the necessary software

In the work on Part II and on later problem sets, you will need to use a Java IDE.

Our recommended IDE is VS Code, and the steps needed to obtain and install it depend on the operating system that you’re using. Select the appropriate link below:

• macOS users
• Windows users

Obtain the necessary files

You should begin by downloading the following zip file:
dbms.zip

Unzip/extract the contents of the file.

Depending on your system, after extracting the contents you will either have:

• a folder named dbms that contains all of the Java files that you need for this assignment

• an outer folder called dbms that contains an inner folder named dbms that contains all of the Java files that you need for this assignment.

Take the dbms folder that actually contains the Java files and drag it into your ps2 folder so that you can easily find and open it from within VS Code.

Compile and test the provided starter code

1. Launch VS Code on your laptop:

   • On Windows, use the Windows button in the Taskbar to search for and run Visual Studio Code.

   • On macOS, use the Spotlight tool to search for and and run Visual Studio Code.

2. In VS Code, select the File->Open Folder or File->Open menu option, and use the resulting dialog box to find and open the dbms folder that you created above – the one that contains the Java files. (Note: You must open the folder; it is not sufficient to simply open one of the Java files in the folder.)

   The name of the folder should appear in the Explorer pane on the left-hand side of the VS Code window, along with a list of all of its contents.

3. Use the Terminal->New Terminal menu option to open a Terminal window, which should be displayed in the lower half of the VS Code window.

   Note: If you select one of the Java files in the Explorer pane, the Problems section in the Terminal window will display a large number of warnings. This is to be expected, and you can safely ignore them.

4. Compiling the code
   Make sure that you are in the Terminal section of the Terminal window. Then enter the following command from the Terminal command line to compile the code:

   javac -cp 'lib/*' -d classes *.java
   

   You will see the following expected warning messages:

   Note: Parser.java uses unchecked or unsafe operations.
   Note: Recompile with -Xlint:unchecked for details.
   

   You can safely ignore them.

5. Running the program
   You should not use any of the usual approaches to running a Java program in VS Code. Instead, you should enter the appropriate command from the Terminal command line:

   • on Windows:

     java -cp 'lib/*;classes' DBMS
     

   • on macOS or Linux:

     java -cp 'lib/*:classes' DBMS
     

   Note: The two commands are almost identical, but in the Windows version there is a semi-colon (;) before the word classes, whereas the macOS/Linux version uses a colon (:).

   After entering the appropriate command, you should see the following:

   Enter command (q to quit):
   

   For now, you should simply enter q to quit the program.

Last updated on September 10, 2024.