5.2. Setting up the Environment

Learn by Experimenting!

For each of the remaining sections in this chapter, be sure to login to Odin and type out the commands given in each part, taking notes as needed. When you are done, you will have a step-by-step outline for creating and using interfaces in Java. Your notes and will be very useful on upcoming homework assignments and projects.

As you work through this example, you will write code to properly utilize an interface called Styleable that allows you to seamlessly change the way text is printed to the screen. This section is all about getting that environment setup on Odin.

On Odin, complete each of the following steps:

  1. Use the following command to download the starter code for this chapter and places it into a subdirectory called cs1302-interfaces:

    sh -c "$(curl -fsSl https://cs1302uga.github.io/cs1302-book/_bundle/cs1302-interfaces.sh)"

  2. Change into the cs1302-interfaces directory that was just created and look around. There should be multiple Java files contained in the src directory. To see a listing of all of the files in src, use the tree command as follows:

    tree src

    You should see output similar to the following:

    Starter Code - Output of the tree command

    Each subdirectory within cs1302-interfaces plays a role in the example. Here is a breakdown of the different subdirectories and their roles:

    • src is the default (no-name) package directory for our source code (default package for source code);

    • cs1302 stores the main driver program (with the main method).

    • interfaces stores our Styleable interface code.

    • impl stores two different implementing classes. Each one implements the Styleable interface in a different way.