Hunger Games Catching Fire

The second instalment of the Hunger Gamesfranchise is a definite improvement on its predecessor. This is a darker, more mature film which accentuates yet further the Orwellian elements in the Suzanne Collins novels from which it is adapted.

It benefits from another full-blooded performance from Jennifer Lawrence as the tough, single-minded warrior heroine, Katniss Everdeen. There is strong support, too, from a cast which now includes Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee, the duplicitous new “gamesmaker.” It’s just a pity that when battle finally commences, you again have the feeling you’re watching a bloodier version of It’s A Knockout – a glorified Outward Bound-style games show rather than a proper movie.

As the story begins, Katniss is back home in District 12 after winning the 74th Hunger Games. Her family and the other inhabits of the District still live in abject poverty. The ruthless and cynical President Snow (Donald Sutherland), wants her to go on a “victory tour” and to try to fool the masses that she is deeply in love with her co-survivor from the Games, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson.)

Francis Lawrence (taking over directorial duties from Gary Ross) accentuates the brutality in the early scenes. President Snow is a fascist leader. His military are ready to use the most extreme tactics to suppress any hint of revolutionary fervour. Katniss is in the unfortunate position of being a poster girl for a regime she loathes.

Jennifer Lawrence on the red carpet of the UK premiere of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' (Getty)

As a dystopian sci-fi yarn, Catching Fire is – initially – effective and chilling. The imagery of district dwellers being rounded up and massacred seems intended to evoke memories of Nazi atrocities. The screenplay, co-written by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire and The Full Monty) has a strong satirical undertow. The fascist state uses the media in general – and reality TV game shows in particular – to keep the masses distracted.

The supporting cast clearly enjoy themselves. Stanley Tucci plays the game show host with extreme unctuous creepiness. Sutherland is good value as the sleekly evil, beard-stroking President. Elizabeth Banks behaves with the right mix of vanity and vacuousness as Katniss’s absurd chaperone, Effie Trinket.

 Strangely, when the long awaited Hunger Games start, the film loses steam. There are still some tremendous special effects – toxic mist, mutant monkeys with a taste for flesh – but the storytelling becomes muddled. Katniss remains at the heart of the action, using her bow and arrow to explosive effect, even as we struggle to work out who survived, who is dead, who is killing who, what is happening – and why. (All will doubtless become clear in the next film.)

It is heartening to find a teen-oriented movie franchise as gritty as The Hunger Games. Even so, Catching Fire remains contradictory, caught in some nether world between nightmarish political allegory and adolescent escapism.

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The NetBeans Software (java-02)

When you first run NetBeans, you'll see a screen something like this one:

The NetBeans Software - First Start (38K)

You may have to drum your fingers and wait a while, as it's not the fastest thing in the world.

To start a new project, click on File > New Project from the NetBeans menu at the top. You'll see the following dialogue box appear:

We're going to be create a Java Application, so select Java under Categories, and then Java Application under Projects. Click the Next button at the bottom to go to step two:

In the Project Name area at the top, type a Name for your Project. Notice how the text at the bottom changes to match your project name (in the text box to the right of Create Main Class):

firstproject.Main

If we leave it like that, the Class will have the name Main. Change it to FirstProject:

Now, the Class created will be called FirstProject, with a capital "F", capital "P". The package is also called firstproject, but with a lowercase "f" and lowercase "j".

The default location to save your projects appears in the Project Location text box. You can change this, if you prefer. NetBeans will also create a folder with your project name, in the same location. Click the Finish button and NetBeans will go to work creating all the necessary files for you.

When NetBeans returns you to the IDE, have a look at the Projects area in the top left of the screen (if you can't see this, click Window > Projects from the menu bar at the top of the software):

Click the plus symbol to expand your project, and you'll see the following:

Now expand Source Packages to see your project name again. Expand this and you'll see the Java file that is your source code.

This same source code should be displayed to the right, in the large text area. It will be calledFirstProject.java. If you can't see a code window, simply double click FirstProject.java in your Projects window above. The code will appear, ready for you to start work.

The coding window that appears should look like this (we've changed the author's name):

One thing to note here is that the class is called FirstProject:

public class FirstProject {

This is the same name as the java source file in the project window: FirstProject.java. When you run your programmes, the compiler demands that the source file and the class name match. So if your .java file is called firstProject but the class is called FirstProject then you'll get an error on compile. And all because the first one is lowercase "f" and the second one uppercase.

Note that although we've also called the package firsproject, this is not necessary. We could have called the package someprogramme. So the name of the package doesn't have to be the same as the java source file, or the class in the source file: it's just the name of the java source file and the name of the class that must match.

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Getting Started (java-01)

Getting Started

One of the difficult things about getting started with Java is installing everything you need. Even before you write a single line of code, the headaches begin! Hopefully, the following sections will make life easier for you.We're going to write all our code using a free piece of software called NetBeans. This is one of the most popular IDEs (Interface Development Environment) in the world for writing Java programmes. You'll see what it looks like shortly. But before NetBeans will work, it needs you to install the necessary Java components and files. First up is something called the Java Virtual Machine.

The Java Virtual Machine

Java is platform independent. This means that it will run on just about any operating system. So whether your computer runs Windows, Linux, Mac OS, it's all the same to Java! The reason it can run on any operating system is because of the Java Virtual Machine. The Virtual Machine is a programme that processes all your code correctly. So you need to install this programme (Virtual Machine) before you can run any Java code.

Java is owned by a company called Oracle, so you need to head over to Oracle's website to get the Java Virtual Machine, also known as the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). Try this page first:

http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

You can check to see if you already have the JRE on your computer by clicking the link "Do I have Java?". You'll find this link under the big Download button at the top of the page. (Unless Oracle have changed things around, again!) When you click the link, your computer will be scanned for the JRE. You will then be told whether you have it or not. If not, you'll be given the opportunity to download and install it.

Or you could just head over to this page:

http://java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

The "manual" in the above links means "manual download". The page gives you download links and instructions for a wide variety of operating systems.

After downloading and installing, you may need to restart you computer. When you do, you will have the Java Virtual Machine.

The Java Software Development Kit

At this stage, you still can't write any programmes. The only thing you've done is to install software so that Java programmes can be run on your computer. To write code and test it out, you need something called a Software Development kit.

Java's Software Development Kit can currently be downloaded from here:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/index.html

The one we're going to be using is called Java SE. (The SE stands for Standard Edition.). Click on that link. You'll then find yourself on a page with a bewildering list of options to download. Because we're going to be using NetBeans, locate this:

JDK 7 Update X with NetBeans 7.x

Click the Download link to be taken to yet another page. Click the top download to be taken to a page that asks you to select your operating system. Click Continue to finally get the download you need. A word of warning, though - this download will be big, at over a 130 megabytes at the time of writing! Once you've downloaded the JDK and NetBeans, install it on your computer.

We're going to be using NetBeans to write our code. Before launching the software, however, here's how things work in the world of Java.

How things work in Java

You write the actual code for your programmes in a text editor. (In NetBeans, there's a special area for you to write code.) The code is called source code, and is saved with the file extension .java. A programme called Javac is then used to turn the source code into Java Byte Code. This is known as compiling. After Javac has finished compiling the Java Byte Code, it creates a new file with the extension .class. (At least, it does if no errors are detected.) Once the class file has been created, it can be run on the Java Virtual Machine. So:

• Create source code with the extension .java
• Use Javac to create (compile) a file ending in .class
• Run the compiled class

NetBeans handles all the creating and compiling for you. Behind the scenes, though, it takes your sources code and creates the java file. It will launch Javac and compile the class file. NetBeans can then run your programme inside its own software. This saves you the hassle of opening up a terminal window and typing long strings of commands.

Now that you have a general idea of how Java works, launch your NetBeans software. Then click the link below to go to continue with the lesson.

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