This tutorial shows step-by-step how to setup a professional Java 8 development environment with Maven and Eclipse on Windows. This is the most widespread setup used by professional programmers in organizations of all sizes. It allows developers to adopt a TDD (Test-Driven Development) approach, and automate tasks in a DevOps style.
The tutorial describes the installation process on Windows (the screenshots provided were taken from a Windows 7 Professional machine) but it should be easily adaptable for Mac and Linux users as well.
It is not a difficult tutorial to follow, as there are plenty of screenshots and step-by-step instructions, so even if you are new to Java you should be able to complete the setup easily; in fact I think it is beneficial to learn this way as you get used to work with a real world toolset.
Because there are a significant number of steps to complete, I have divided the tutorial in two parts, accessible via the following links:
Part 1: JDK and Maven Installation
Part 2: Eclipse IDE Installation
If you found this tutorial to be useful, or if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below.
Happy coding (and testing)!