hey there,

I downloaded Eclipse for Java so that I can learn programming.

I have linux mint 7(Gloria). The problem is, I dono how to and where to program. Like, what is the compiler? like for cand c++ we get a page where we type in our program and compile them, I cant find anything like that on the eclipse. I create a new project, it gets created but I cannot type anywhere, Please help me out here.

I can use terminal for Java? untill I fix it?

Please explain me JRE and JDE. WHat is the difference and what are they? briefly? Thanks a ton

Sorry, I am too naive.

Yes you can use terminal to compile. You use the commands javac and java. javac will compile your .java files into a .class file. You can then run .class files with java. If you make a jar file you must type "java -jar [filename]" to run it. Eclipse should have created a default workspace for you though. There your project files can be viewed. Each folder contains a bin folder and source folder. The bin folder contains compiled versions. The source is just java files. I hope this helps you some. The JRE consists of the Java Virtual Machine, the Java libraries, and all other components necessary to run Java applications and applets. The JDE is a package which is for the development of Java applications. JDE ties into your IDE to give syntax highlighting and the ability to build skeletons.