I am going to be taking some Java classes in this upcoming semester at college. Since this is going to be my first Java language class I'm not sure what is really needed to create Java programs on my laptop. The professor has given us the link to the class website which we will be using for this course. On the website he goes through how to install java and add it to the system PATH and possibly the CLASSPATH on your computer. He also gives a link to a text editor called jEdit. My question is when looking through and researching jEdit I got the impression that creating these system PATH and CLASSPATH wouldn't be necessary to run my java code. Is this true or do I still need to do the PATH's? Is there anyway to get a java compiler that will just run the code in the window like a "Visual Studio" from Microsoft? Any help on this will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Read the sticky at the top of the forum meant specifically for people starting out with Java.