A free Java Development Environment designed for beginners

BlueJ for Mac
Report    Share

Browse by Company

Adobe, Apowersoft, Autodesk, Avast, Corel, Cyberlink, Google, iMyFone, iTop, Movavi, PassFab, Passper, Tenorshare, Wargaming, Wondershare

BlueJ for Mac

  -  179 MB  -  Open Source
Free Download

Security Status

BlueJ for Mac is a development environment that allows you to develop Java programs quickly and easily. Its main features are that it is:

BlueJ's editor features unique scope highlighting, where the background of each code block is colored to allow you to visually scan the code much faster. It also helps in spotting misplaced curly brackets.

  • Simple - BlueJ has a deliberately smaller and simpler interface than professional environments like NetBeans or Eclipse. This allows beginners to get started more quickly and without being overwhelmed.
  • Designed for teaching - BlueJ is deliberately designed with good pedagogy in mind. There is a popular textbook designed for teaching introductory university/college courses with BlueJ, and a site full of teaching resources.
  • Interactive BlueJ - allows you to interact with objects. You can inspect their value, call methods on them, pass them as parameters, and more. You can also directly invoke Java expressions without compiling. Thus, BlueJ for macOS is a powerful graphical shell/REPL for Java.
  • Portable BlueJ - runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, and other platforms that run Java. It can also run without installation from a USB stick.
  • Mature BlueJ - is over fifteen years old, but continues to be updated and supported by a full-time team. "We aim to respond to all technical support requests within one working day."
  • Innovative BlueJ - has several features not seen before in other IDEs. Its object bench, code pad, and scope coloring were all original BlueJ features.
Objects can be inspected while the app is running. The contents of fields are displayed to aid understanding and debugging. As well as allowing inspection of objects while the program is running, objects can be dynamically created, and their methods can be invoked.

You can also invoke Java code directly, without compilation, just by typing it in. The result is printed out and can then be inspected, manipulated, or passed as a parameter to another method call.

How to Use
  • Open the .dmg file and drag BlueJ to Applications
  • Launch BlueJ from the Applications folder
  • Configure preferences in the BlueJ settings
  • Create a new project to start coding
  • Write and compile Java classes
  • Run your program using the main method
  • Use the object bench for object testing
  • Save your work and export if needed
  • Check for updates regularly
System Requirements
  • macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) or later
  • At least 2 GB of RAM
  • 200 MB of available disk space
  • Java Development Kit (JDK) 11 or higher
  • Intel or Apple Silicon processor
PROS
  • Easy to use for Java beginners
  • Built-in editor with syntax highlighting
  • Interactive object creation and testing
  • Simple interface with clear layout
  • Integrated debugger and terminal
CONS
  • Limited to Java programming only
  • Lacks support for advanced features
  • Outdated UI design compared to modern IDEs
  • Not ideal for large-scale projects
  • Fewer extensions and plugins are available
Note: Requires Java for Mac and a 64-bit processor.

Also Available: Download BlueJ for Windows

Download BlueJ for Mac Latest Version
Why is this app published on FileHorse? (More info)

  • BlueJ 5.5.0 Screenshots

    The images below have been resized. Click on them to view the screenshots in full size.

    BlueJ 5.5.0 Screenshot 1
  • BlueJ 5.5.0 Screenshot 2
  • BlueJ 5.5.0 Screenshot 3

What's new in this version:

Fixed bugs:
- Fixed slowdown bug with Java classes over 5000 lines.
- Fixed bug with terminal sometimes not showing exceptions if the stderr pane was not previously visible.
- Fixed bug with rectangle characters showing up in the documentation view on Windows.
- Fixed bug with assert panel not changing the OK button to enabled (and the field to disabled) when selecting null/not-null as the assertion while recording a test
- Show quick fixes even if the locale is one that supports localised Java compiler error messages (e.g. German)

Improvements:
- The Edit->New CSS File has become Edit->New CSS/Text File and will let you create text files
- Select several lines in the Java editor, right-click and select "Screenshot line(s)". A screenshot of those lines will be put on the clipboard. The lines must all be visible on screen.
- In the Java editor, middle-click the name of any other class to go to its definition/documentation. (Also available on right-click menu.)
- When you inspect a String object, new pane for string content and new "Copy to clipboard" button.
- New "Re-run" button on left side of main window, re-runs last constructor or static method (or JavaFX app) with same parameters. (Compiles first, if needed.)
- The New Class dialog now has a new dropdown: Template or Minimal; the latter lets you create a class/interface/enum/record/etc without anything in the body.
- New checkbox in Preferences, in Interface -> General that lets you turn off re-opening last open projects.
- Slightly increased the space for line numbers to help with four-digit line numbers.
- Terminal window has new "Always on top" menu option.
- Made Cmd-comma open preferences on macOS.
- Ctrl-+ should increase font size on non-QWERTY keyboards.
- Increased default font size to 12 in new installations.
- Line numbers on by default in new installations.
- Editor tabs can be dragged to reorder them in the editor windows.
- Ctrl-scrollwheel on Windows and Linux, and two finger pinch-zoom gesture on all OSes changes the editor font size.
- Changed the default Java editor and terminal font to "Source Code Pro", which supports box-drawing characters.

Top Downloads

More Popular Software »