Java 5 or Java 6

[mew]

I am starting a new application. Which JDK should I use.
I am now to this mates. Please advice.

Eclipse gives options to use JDK 1.4, 5 and 6.

Thanks.

[wsaryada]

Just use the latest JDK.

[ravian]

JDK 6 is the latest one and its also stable.

[mwildam]

I have noticed that there are significant new things in the version 6 eg the tray notification icons.

I also go with 6 for my early tests (I must say that I have no living Java project so far because very new to java).

But I noticed that eg most linux distributions still have the 5 installed by default and installing the version 6 needs some manual work.

So if you want to make sure that your app runs anywhere still running an older Java version then the 5 might be your choice. But regarding new features and libraries the 6 might be the one to prefer.

[staykovmarin]

Or you read trough Java SE 6 Features and Enhancements and see if there is something you find useful in there.

Also as always, it has better performance than previous versions (which is something that programmers attempt to scare n00bs with "ITS SLOW! it will kill that dual core cpu you have!!!").

[mew]

Thanks to all of you.
I will go through the link given by staykovmarin to learn about the new features added in Java 6.

[mwildam]

And what IDE do you use ? I am not sure if there are recommendations regarding combinations of IDE version and Java SDK versions.

[Eranga]

Yep, it's better to find the best working IDE with Java 6.

[mwildam]

I am not sure if there should be differences in stability when using eg Netbeans 5.0 or whatever with Java 6.

However I found out that NetBeans 5.5.1 with Java 6 did not report an error in a method (that did not work) that was reported after updating to NetBeans 6.0. But I am not sure if this really is an issue of IDE version and Java version combination.

[mew]

I am working in Eclipse. I guess it would be OK?

[Eranga]

Use IntelliJ IDEA. That's all. Excellent IDE for Java.