Trash/System/Installation/J804
Overview
A J installation comprises three components, two of which are optional.
The core J system
The core J system is the minimal system for running J applications. It includes two user interfaces:
- Jconsole, a command-line front-end for J
- JHS, which allows a browser to be the interface to J
The core J system is powerful but quite small. Many J users use jconsole or JHS as their preferred front-ends for J. And, if you are using J in an embedded application it may be all you need to ship.
Addons
J Addons are packages written in J and available for inclusion in your system. They perform many useful functions, such as plotting, graphics, and interfacing to other software packages, and they include the tutorials for the J system. You may install some or all of them.
Qt IDE
For J software development, the Qt IDE for J is a congenial programming environment. It gives a modern windowed interface to J with sophisticated debugging tools. It is optional.
Requirements
J and the Qt desktop have been tested and are supported on the following platforms:
- Windows 32 - XP or later
- Windows 64 - 7 or later
- Mac 64 OSX - 10.6.8 or later
- Linux 32/64 - Red Hat 6 or other distribution with Qt 4.8 (most popular distributions)
- Raspberry Pi - any version with Raspbian OS
To install J on an Android device follow the instructions here.
Note: both Windows XP and OSX 10.6.8 are no longer supported by their vendors and no longer receive security updates. Future support of J on those platforms is not guaranteed.
Quick Start Guide
If you are new to J, it's a good idea to download everything, including the Qt IDE and the Addons, so you can explore J to the fullest.
- For Windows: Run one of the All-in-One Installers:
Run the installer, which will install the core system and the Qt IDE. Make note of the folder that J was installed in - that is ~install for purposes of finding the J components. Then install all the addons.
- For Mac: Follow the step-by-step instructions.
- For other operating systems: follow the custom installation steps below
You've installed J!
Custom Installation Step By Step
1 Install the Core J System
Download and run the appropriate file from the downloads page. Refer to the core installation guide for details based on your operating system.
In the discussion below the fully qualified location of the J install folder will be referred to as ~install.
Admin privilege is not required for a standard install or for web updates.
Doing the install in a protected folder path such as "Program Files..." or /usr/... requires admin privilege and will require admin privilege for web updates. Installing in other than HOME can be a nuisance and has no compelling benefit with the possible exception of an install for Multiple Users.
What is installed
JE (J Engine) is a shared library that executes J sentences and is the system core. It is in the ~install/bin directory. JE is j.dll in Windows, libj.so in Linux, and libj.dylib in Mac.
Jconsole is a console front-end to J. It is ~install/bin/jconsole.exe in Windows and jconsole in Linux and Mac.
A browser can also be a front-end to J, if you start a JHS server and point the browser to the URL of the server.
2 (optional) Install the Qt IDE
The Qt IDE is ~install/bin/jqt.exe on Windows, ~install/jqt on Mac, ~install/jqt.sh on Linux or Raspberry Pi.
If you used an All-In-One installer the Qt IDE is already installed. Skip this step and go on to installing addons.
If your system did not include JQt, you can install it with the following steps:
1. Run ~install/bin/Jconsole (see below for information on how to do this on your OS)
2. Type in one of the following lines:
- to install the Qt IDE and all addons (recommended for software development), execute
install 'all'
You can skip the 'Install Addons' step below - you've installed them already.
- to install the Qt IDE only, execute
install 'qtide'
3. Type
exit 0
to close Jconsole.
3 (optional) Install Addons
To install or update addons, do the following steps:
1. Start the Qt IDE (~install/bin/jqt.exe on Windows, ~install/jqt on Mac, ~install/jqt.sh on Linux or Raspberry Pi).
2. Select Tools|Package Manager from the menu.
3. Press Select all, then Install.
4. When the installation is complete, close the Package Manager window.
Notes:
1. The steps given above install all the addons. Because the addons are written in J, they're small and it's easiest simply to install them all. If you want to install a subset of the addons, you may do so using Package Manager.
2. If you don't have the Qt IDE, you can install addons using the Jconsole interface to the Package Manager.
4 (optional) Customization
If you're a seasoned J user you might want to change some of the folder names.