Personally, I feel it's easier to get started by using Studio/Eclipse because, as you say, it'll provide intellisense and suggest corrections. It usually does auto-compile and then to test your java class, you can simply copy the compiled java .class file into your Studio application and put it under appname/deploy/java/application/classes. If the code creates a new element (or say it smart), then close the Studio application from the workspace and re-open it by double-clicking app.callflow and the new element will appear under Elements/Local Elements.
To create the Java project, select New/Project/JavaProject/ Enter a name for your Java project and click 'Next'.
Then in the wizard, click on the Libraries tab and click 'Add External Jars' - you'll need to select 'framework.jar', 'servlet.jar' (was called servlet2.3.jar until cvp 9), and if you're extending existing studio elements you'll need 'elements.jar' - do a Search ahead of time, these files are all in the Studio/eclipse/plugins folder somewhere.
Then copy some of the Cisco examples into your Java project. Eclipse will compile. You can then copy the compiled class files into your Studio application and test them (as described above).
Mark Applebee:
I am new to Custom Java and trying to learn it by using the templates in the Cisco site.Whats the best way to write custom java classes.
Is it better to use callstudio or some IDE like Eclipse. I feel like IDEs are more helpful for writing and fixing syntax errors.
For example if I want to use Eclipse as an IDE, do I need to add any audium files to it before start using import commands in the java code?