Setting up your Java development environment

This topic provides instructions to set up a Java development environment to test your application locally prior to deploying it to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. It also references websites that provide installation instructions for useful tools.

For common setup steps and tools that apply to all languages, see Configuring your development machine for use with Elastic Beanstalk.

Installing the Java development kit

Install the Java Development Kit (JDK). If you don't have a preference, get the latest version. Download the JDK at oracle.com

The JDK includes the Java compiler, which you can use to build your source files into class files that can be executed on an Elastic Beanstalk web server.

Installing a web container

If you don't already have another web container or framework, install a version of Tomcat that Elastic Beanstalk supports for your Amazon Linux operating system. For a list of the current versions of Apache Tomcat that Elastic Beanstalk supports, see Tomcat in the AWS Elastic Beanstalk Platforms document. Download the Tomcat version that applies to your environment from the Apache Tomcat website.

Downloading libraries

Elastic Beanstalk platforms include few libraries by default. Download libraries that your application will use and save them in your project folder to deploy in your application source bundle.

If you've installed Tomcat locally, you can copy the servlet API and JavaServer Pages (JSP) API libraries from the installation folder. If you deploy to a Tomcat platform version, you don't need to include these files in your source bundle, but you do need to have them in your classpath to compile any classes that use them.

JUnit, Google Guava, and Apache Commons provide several useful libraries. Visit their home pages to learn more:

Installing the AWS SDK for Java

If you need to manage AWS resources from within your application, install the AWS SDK for Java. For example, with the AWS SDK for Java, you can use Amazon DynamoDB (DynamoDB) to share session states of Apache Tomcat applications across multiple web servers. For more information, see Manage Tomcat Session State with Amazon DynamoDB in the AWS SDK for Java documentation.

Visit the AWS SDK for Java home page for more information and installation instructions.

Installing an IDE or text editor

Integrated development environments (IDEs) provide a wide range of features that facilitate application development. If you haven't used an IDE for Java development, try Eclipse and IntelliJ and see which works best for you.

An IDE might add files to your project folder that you might not want to commit to source control. To prevent committing these files to source control, use .gitignore or your source control tool's equivalent.

If you just want to begin coding and don't need all of the features of an IDE, consider installing Sublime Text.