What you should know

- [Instructor] In order to be successful in this course, 2 you need to have some prerequisite knowledge 3 to make your learning about GraalVM more efficient. 4 First and foremost, you need to know Java 5 as a programming language. 6 Now we will be using JDK 11 for this course. 7 As such you should either have OpenJDK 11 8 or Oracle JDK 11 installed. 9 Make sure you have the JDK and not just the Runtime. 10 You will also need some very basic Java knowledge. 11 I'm not going to be using very advanced constructs, 12 but I also don't want you to be tripped up 13 by the language itself, 14 as it isn't the focus of this course. 15 If you need a refresher, now is the time to do it. 16 We'll be using several frameworks in this course. 17 And as such, some understanding of Java frameworks 18 will be very helpful. 19 This isn't a hard requirement, 20 but having used a Java framework will help you understand 21 how to read the documentation when you write code 22 against the frameworks in this course. 23 We will use Maven to handle dependency management, 24 as well as life cycle operations 25 of our Java programs in this course. 26 As such, some basic knowledge of Maven is needed. 27 You will need to have Maven installed on your machine 28 or in your IDE, depending on which IDE you use. 29 Apache has some good installation instructions 30 if you need help installing the tool, 31 but it is rather simple. 32 Make sure if you're going to use Maven from the command line, 33 which is how I will do it, 34 that you have Maven on your path. 35 As I just alluded to, I will be using Maven 36 from the command line in this course. 37 If you haven't used Maven much or need a refresher, 38 check out the course, Introducing Maven, 39 that I have here on the LinkedIn Learning Library. 40 We will also use a couple of Maven plugins 41 for building our artifacts. 42 Now you don't need to be an expert in Maven plugins, 43 but having some base knowledge will help you out. 44 And again, the previous course that I mentioned 45 has some details on using plugins. 46 For ease in development, 47 it is recommended that you use an IDE. 48 While you can write Java with a text editor, 49 I strongly encourage you to get an IDE. 50 There are several free versions that are all very good. 51 Now I'm going to be using IntelliJ Ultimate Edition. 52 I use JetBrains products professionally 53 every day for development. 54 And for me, they just work, which is why I use them. 55 You however, do not need to buy this tool. 56 The free versions or Eclipse or NetBeans, work just as well. 57 I may have a few more features in my paid IDE, 58 but most if not all of what I'm doing in my IDE, 59 you can do in all modern IDEs that are out there. 60 The key point here is to know how to use the IDE 61 whichever one you choose. 62 That's why I use intelliJ Ultimate Edition, 63 because for me, that's the one that I know the best. 64 And it's more important for this course 65 that you use one that you know, 66 and if you don't know one very well, 67 now's the time to go learn it 68 because it will improve your efficiency in coding 69 more than anything else, 70 is to understand how to use your IDE efficiently.