Creating your first Java project

In this section, you will create a new Java project. You will be using JUnit as your example project. JUnit is an open source unit testing framework for Java.

Getting the Sample Code (JUnit)

First you need to download the JUnit source code.

  1. Go to the http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/ page
  2. Select the Downloads link under Java Development Tools.
  3. Select the link for the release that you are working with.
  4. Scroll down to the Example Plug-ins section and download the examples archive.
  5. Extract the contents of the Zip file to a directory from now on referenced as <Downloads> (e.g. c:\myDownloads).

Creating the project

  1. Inside Eclipse select the menu item File > New > Project.... to open the New Project wizard
  2. Select Java Project then click Next to start the New Java Project wizard:

    New Java Project wizard

    On this page, type "JUnit" in the Project name field. Make sure the JDK compliance is set to 1.4, and click Finish. (If you are interested in the new features in Eclipse supporting J2SE 5.0 development, see the companion guide "Getting Started with Java 5.0 development in Eclipse").
  3. In the Package Explorer, make sure that the JUnit project is selected. Select the menu item File > Import....
  4. Select Archive file, then click Next.
  5. Click the Browse button next to the Archive file field and browse to select <Downloads>eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.jdt.ui.examples.projects_3.0.0/archive/junit/junit381src.jar.
    Note: This step assumes that you followed steps 1-3 in the Getting the Sample Code section above.
  6. In the Import wizard, below the file tree click Select All. You can expand and select elements within the junit directory on the left pane to view the individual resources that you are importing on the right pane. Note: Do not deselect any of the resources in the junit directory at this time. You will need all of these resources in the tutorial.

    Import hierarchy list

  7. Make sure that the JUnit project appears in the destination Folder field. Then click Finish. In the import progress indicator, notice that the imported resources are compiled as they are imported into the workbench. This is because the Build automatically option is checked on the Workbench preferences page. You will be prompted to overwrite the .classpath and .project files in the JUnit project. This is because the .classpath resource was created for you when you created the JUnit project. It is safe to overwrite these files.
  8. In the Package Explorer view, expand the JUnit project to view the JUnit packages.

    Package explorer

Related concepts

Java projects
Java views

Related tasks

Working with build paths
Creating a new Java project
Using the Package Explorer

Related reference

New Java Project Wizard
Package Explorer View