Set up your environment (Windows)

as a manual tester

Your test environment gets set up by someone else, or via a wiki page of steps.

→

in automation

You're the someone else now. Environment setup is a core engineering skill — and a one-time cost.

This lesson sets up a complete Java automation environment on a Windows laptop: JDK 21, IntelliJ IDEA, and Git. Two paths for each install — the fast way (winget, Windows' built-in package manager) and the manual way (download an installer). Both end in the same place.

Step 1 — Install JDK 21 (Eclipse Temurin)

Fast way: open PowerShell (Start → type "powershell" → Enter) and run:

PowerShell

winget install EclipseAdoptium.Temurin.21.JDK

Manual way: go to adoptium.net → download the Windows x64 .msi for Temurin 21 (LTS) → run it. On the "Custom Setup" screen, enable "Set JAVA_HOME variable" and "Add to PATH" — this saves you manual environment-variable work.

Verify: close and reopen PowerShell (it only reads PATH at startup — the #1 gotcha), then:

PowerShell

java -version

predict: what does this print? think it through, then reveal

output

openjdk version "21.0.7" 2025-04-15 LTS
OpenJDK Runtime Environment Temurin-21.0.7+6 (build 21.0.7+6-LTS)
OpenJDK 64-Bit Server VM Temurin-21.0.7+6 ...

Any 21.x is right. If you get "'java' is not recognized…", see the troubleshooting box below.

Step 2 — Install IntelliJ IDEA Community (free)

PowerShell

winget install JetBrains.IntelliJIDEA.Community

Or manually: jetbrains.com/idea/download → scroll past Ultimate to Community Edition → run the installer. On the options screen, ticking "Add bin folder to PATH" and the .java file association is convenient. IntelliJ bundles Maven, so that's one less install.

Step 3 — Install Git for Windows

PowerShell

winget install Git.Git

Or manually from git-scm.com/download/win. The installer asks ~10 questions; accepting every default is fine. Verify in a fresh PowerShell:

PowerShell

git --version

predict: what does this print? think it through, then reveal

output

git version 2.50.0.windows.1

Step 4 — Open the starter project

Download stage-1-starter.zip (also on the downloads page) and unzip it somewhere sensible, e.g. C:\dev\stage-1-starter. (Avoid OneDrive-synced folders like Desktop/Documents — sync locks cause weird build errors.)
Open IntelliJ → Open → select the unzipped folder → Trust Project.
Wait for the bottom-right progress bar: Maven is downloading Selenium and JUnit. First time takes a few minutes.
If prompted about a missing SDK: File → Project Structure → SDK → pick temurin-21.

Step 5 — Run the hello test

Open src/test/java/HelloTest.java, click the green ▶ next to the class name → Run 'HelloTest'.

IntelliJ run panel

HelloTest
  ✓ environmentWorks
  ✓ stringComparisonUsesEquals
  ✓ aTasteOfTestData

Tests passed: 3 of 3 tests

IntelliJ after running HelloTest — three green checks in the run panel

Three green checks = your entire toolchain works: JDK compiles, Maven resolved dependencies, JUnit ran assertions.

Don't worry about the Java inside HelloTest yet — the next suite teaches you to read and write it. Today's goal is only proving the machinery runs.

Troubleshooting the classics:
• "'java' is not recognized" — PATH isn't set. Either re-run the Temurin MSI and enable both checkboxes, or set it by hand: Start → "Edit the system environment variables" → Environment Variables → under System variables create JAVA_HOME = C:\Program Files\Eclipse Adoptium\jdk-21..., then edit Path → New → %JAVA_HOME%\bin. Reopen PowerShell.
• Maven stuck / red errors on first open — corporate proxy or antivirus. Try a personal network once; dependencies cache locally afterwards.
• winget not found — update "App Installer" from the Microsoft Store, or just use the manual installers.

⚡ exercise · prove your environment

Run java -version and git --version in PowerShell; screenshot both.
Run HelloTest in IntelliJ; screenshot the green panel.
Change an expected value in HelloTest.java to make it fail, run it, and read the failure message top to bottom. Knowing what failure looks like matters as much as green. Change it back.

references

key takeaways

JDK 21 + IntelliJ Community + Git = the complete Windows toolkit; winget installs all three.
Always reopen PowerShell after installs — PATH loads at startup.
Keep projects out of OneDrive-synced folders.
Deliberately breaking a test teaches you to read failures — do it early.