Recitation 0: Course Setup: IntelliJ and AI Assistance🔗

Goals: Establish the accounts and licenses used throughout the course, install and configure IntelliJ IDEA and the course Java tools, connect GitHub Copilot Student and Google Gemini to IntelliJ, learn the no-payment-method path for connecting ChatGPT Codex, and verify the installation with a supplied Java test. The final activity compares two completion systems using a complete set of instructions; no previous Java experience is assumed.

No work on this recitation was due before the first class. During Recitation 0, start the four independent account tracks below; GitHub and JetBrains may take several days to verify student status, so a pending review is normal. Complete the downloads, IDE configuration, and Java tool check as the required approvals become available.

1 Recitation 0, part 1: Start four independent account tracks🔗

Complete each track using one consistent account for that provider. Do not wait for one track to finish before starting the others. In particular, your personal and SHU email addresses belong on the same GitHub account; they do not require separate GitHub accounts.

1.1 Have these items ready🔗

• Your SHU username, password, email access, and multifactor-authentication device.

• A personal email address that you expect to keep after graduation.

• Your SHU student ID and a current proof of enrollment. GitHub accepts a school ID only when it displays a current enrollment date. If yours does not, have a current class schedule, transcript, or official enrollment-verification letter available instead.

• A personal Google account ending in gmail.com. Create one if you do not already have one.

• Optional: a personal ChatGPT account. ChatGPT Free is sufficient for the Codex setup described below; do not upgrade or add a payment method for this course.

• Your Windows laptop and its charger.

No payment method is required for this course. ChatGPT Free is enough for the optional Codex setup. OpenAI currently lists two separate optional student offers; neither is part of this lab. As checked on August 31, 2026, its ChatGPT Plus promotion offers eligible current full- or part-time students at eligible U.S. degree-granting institutions four free months of Plus if claimed by October 31, 2026. A new subscriber must add a payment method; the subscription then renews at $20/month unless canceled, and canceling early can forfeit remaining free months. Its separate Codex for Students offer gives a successfully verified current student at a U.S. or Canadian degree-granting university who is residing in the U.S. or Canada when claiming a one-time $100 grant (2,500 ChatGPT credits) for Codex. A ChatGPT Free account qualifies, and that offer page does not list a payment-method or auto-renewal requirement. The credits expire 12 months after the grant, are not API credits or subscription time, and last for no fixed number of months because usage varies. The offer pages do not say whether the two promotions can be combined. Read the live terms before claiming either, and do not upgrade or add a payment method for this course.

Only upload enrollment evidence to the official GitHub or JetBrains verification page. Never submit your student ID to Gradescope or show it to course staff. Never share a password, multifactor code, recovery code, or API key with anyone, including course staff.

1.2 Track A: One GitHub account, two email addresses, and Copilot Student🔗

Use one GitHub account with two verified email addresses. The account needs (1) a durable personal email address that you expect to keep after graduation and (2) your SHU academic email address for student-status verification. These are two addresses on the same account, not two GitHub accounts. The email address originally used to create the account does not matter.

1. Choose the one GitHub account you will use. If you already control a GitHub account, sign in to that account and do not create another one. This includes an account that currently uses only your SHU email. Create an account only if you do not already own a github account.

2. Open GitHub email settings and make sure both your durable personal email and your SHU academic email are listed and verified on that same account. If the account currently has only the SHU email, add your personal email; if it has only your personal email, add your SHU email.

3. Enable two-factor authentication and save the recovery codes somewhere other than this laptop.

4. Open GitHub Education benefits, choose Start an application, and use the verified SHU email when requested.

5. If GitHub requests evidence, upload one clear image showing your name, Seton Hall University, and current enrollment. A student ID without a current date is insufficient by itself; use a current schedule, transcript, or enrollment-verification letter instead.

6. Wait until GitHub marks the account as a verified student. An application receipt is not approval.

7. Return to GitHub Education benefits. Under Free GitHub developer resources for students and teachers, choose Learn more and activate Copilot Student.

8. In GitHub Settings, open Billing & licensing > Licensing. Under Current plan, confirm that the Copilot license is Copilot Student.

GitHub Education approval and Copilot activation are separate. Do not activate Copilot Free and do not enter a payment method. If GitHub offers only Copilot Free, a trial, or paid checkout, wait and try again. See GitHub’s student-verification instructions, Copilot Student instructions, and plan-verification instructions.

1.3 Track B: JetBrains account to educational IntelliJ license🔗

1. Create or sign in to a single JetBrains Account. Do not create another account at a later activation screen.

2. Apply for the free JetBrains Student Pack. Use your SHU academic email, approved GitHub Student Developer Pack account, or official enrollment evidence, as the form permits.

3. Follow the confirmation link JetBrains sends and wait for approval.

4. Open your JetBrains licenses. Confirm that an active student or educational license includes IntelliJ IDEA, and note its expiration date.

For this course you will **need** an educational IntelliJ license. A trial edition with days remaining will not suffice. Do not download IntelliJ until this license is visible.

1.4 Track C: Gmail to Google AI Studio to Gemini API key🔗

This track is independent of GitHub and JetBrains approval.

1. Create or sign in to a personal account ending in gmail.com.

2. Open the Google AI Studio API keys page with that account and accept the applicable terms.

3. Create an API key. Google AI Studio may create the associated project automatically. Confirm that the project is on the Free Tier.

4. Do not click Set up billing and do not add a payment method.

5. Leave the key stored in Google AI Studio until Recitation 0. Do not copy it into a document, password manager, chat, source file, screenshot, Gradescope submission, or message.

Google’s Free Tier may use prompts and responses to improve Google products. Later, use it only with public course materials and your own non-sensitive work—not personal information, grades, credentials, another student’s work, or unreleased course solutions.

1.5 Track D: SHU course services🔗

1. Open Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, sign in with your SHU work-or-school account, and bookmark the page. Confirm that the page shows the SHU account rather than a personal Microsoft account.

2. Open Gradescope, accept the course invitation, and confirm that this course appears in your dashboard.

There is no separate account-status submission or instructor checkpoint for this lab.

2 Recitation 0: Install and configure🔗

Complete these steps in order. If your JetBrains educational license is still pending, do not work around the wait by starting an IntelliJ IDE trial.

2.1 Create the course folders🔗

In File Explorer, create the following folders. Replace YOURUSERNAME with your Windows account name.

Keep course projects out of temporary download folders. If Windows redirects your Documents folder into OneDrive, the location above also avoids accidental cloud-sync conflicts in IntelliJ projects.

2.2 Install IntelliJ IDEA through JetBrains Toolbox🔗

1. Download and install the JetBrains Toolbox App for Windows.

2. Sign in to Toolbox with the same JetBrains Account that owns your educational license.

3. Install the current stable release of IntelliJ IDEA. Do not install an Early Access Program build.

4. Open IntelliJ and select Help > Manage Subscriptions (or Help > Register). Confirm that IntelliJ is activated by the educational license. If the dialog says Trial, stop and sign out; then sign back in with the JetBrains Account that owns your educational license.

2.3 Select JDK 11🔗

IntelliJ includes enough Java to run the IDE, but the course requires a separate Java Development Kit, version 11, to compile programs. JDK 11 is the requirement; the vendor, installation folder, and name that IntelliJ displays for it are not. In particular, an SDK name such as homebrew-11 describes one installation on one computer. Do not install Homebrew or reproduce another computer’s SDK name.

When you create the course project template below, select an existing JDK 11 if IntelliJ finds one. Otherwise choose Download JDK, select Version 11, and use any available OpenJDK vendor. IntelliJ will offer a download appropriate for macOS, Windows, or Linux. Keep the default installation location. If JDK 11 is already installed but IntelliJ does not find it, choose Add SDK from Disk and select its home directory. See JetBrains’s project JDK instructions for the same three choices.

2.4 Download the course libraries🔗

Download tester.jar and javalib.jar from the links at the top of this page. Save both files directly in C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\CSAS2123\libraries. Do not open, extract, or rename the JAR files.

2.5 Configure IntelliJ yourself🔗

Follow the course Code style instructions now. In particular, verify two-space indentation with spaces rather than tab characters, a 100-character wrap guide, visible line numbers, and the course inspections concerning this. These are user settings: each student must configure and verify them on their own computer.

2.6 Install JetBrains AI Assistant without a paid plan🔗

1. If IntelliJ is older than version 2026.1, use JetBrains Toolbox to update it to the current stable release. Codex support in JetBrains IDEs requires IntelliJ 2026.1 or newer.

2. In IntelliJ, open File > Settings > Plugins > Marketplace. Install the plugin named AI Assistant whose vendor is JetBrains.

3. Open the AI Chat tool window. If IntelliJ presents activation choices, choose Pick an agent or close the offer. Do not choose Start with JetBrains AI subscription, start a paid plan, or link a payment method.

The plugin is needed for the Gemini connection below and provides the optional Codex integration. A JetBrains AI subscription is not required for either the ChatGPT authorization or the Google API-key setup.

2.7 Connect ChatGPT Codex in IntelliJ (optional)🔗

JetBrains provides the IntelliJ integration for Codex. Do not search for or install the Codex extension made for Visual Studio Code. See OpenAI’s Codex IDE instructions and JetBrains’s agent-activation instructions.

1. Sign in at ChatGPT with the personal account you intend to use. The Free plan is enough for this optional check; do not upgrade or add a payment method.

2. In IntelliJ, open AI Chat and choose Codex in the agent selector.

3. Send Reply with exactly: Codex is connected. to trigger activation. Choose Install and Continue when IntelliJ asks to install the agent and accept the applicable terms.

4. At the authentication prompt, choose ChatGPT—not JetBrains and not API Key. Complete the OpenAI sign-in in the browser and authorize Codex.

5. Return to IntelliJ. Open File > Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > Providers & API keys. Under Agent Authorization, confirm that Codex uses ChatGPT.

6. Return to the new Codex chat and confirm that its response is exactly Codex is connected.

Provider-account authorization enables the Codex agent in AI Chat; it does not unlock unrelated JetBrains AI subscription features. For course work, start Codex in Read-only mode. When you intentionally want file edits, use Agent, review the diff, and run the tests yourself. Do not use Agent (full access) for course projects. Codex can receive the active file and selected text, and JetBrains warns that Codex does not honor .aiignore; never store passwords, API keys, or other secrets in a course project.

2.8 Install the GitHub Copilot plugin🔗

1. In Settings > Plugins > Marketplace, install GitHub Copilot. The vendor must be GitHub.

2. Restart IntelliJ when prompted.

3. Select Tools > GitHub Copilot > Login to GitHub.

4. Choose Copy and Open. In the browser, sign in to the same GitHub account whose plan says Copilot Student, paste the device code, and authorize the GitHub Copilot Plugin.

5. Return to IntelliJ and verify that the Copilot status icon says that Copilot is ready.

Installing the plugin before Copilot Student is active can silently leave the IDE using Copilot Free. If IntelliJ opened the wrong GitHub account, log out of Copilot and repeat the device-code process with the account from Track A.

2.9 Connect the existing Gemini API key to IntelliJ🔗

1. Open the Google AI Studio API keys page and sign in with the same personal Gmail account used in Track C.

2. Locate the key created in Track C and confirm again that its project is on the Free Tier.

3. Do not click Set up billing and do not add a payment method.

4. Copy the existing key directly from Google AI Studio.

5. In IntelliJ, open File > Settings > Tools > AI Assistant > Providers & API keys. Add Google as a third-party provider, paste the Gemini API key, and choose Test Connection. Apply the settings after the test succeeds.

6. Open AI Chat and select any available Gemini Flash model. Send Reply with exactly: Gemini is connected. Verify the response, then clear the API key from the Windows clipboard by copying some ordinary text.

2.10 Verify and compare completions🔗

This activity is a tool check, not a Java quiz. The source files and expected results are supplied. You are responsible only for following the steps, observing what each tool does, and asking about anything that differs.

2.11 Create the course project template🔗

1. Open IntelliJ and choose New Project. Select Java, use the IntelliJ build system, name the project CSAS2123-template, and place it inside C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\CSAS2123\projects. Do not create a Git repository yet.

2. In the JDK menu, select an installed JDK 11. If none is listed, choose Download JDK, select Version 11, and use any available vendor.

3. Open File > Project Structure > Project. Confirm that the SDK is the JDK 11 selected above and set Language level to 11 - Local variable syntax for lambda parameters.

4. Under Project Structure > Libraries, add tester.jar and javalib.jar from your course libraries folder as Java libraries. Apply the changes.

2.12 Run the supplied environment check🔗

1. Open View > Tool Windows > Terminal, start a new terminal tab, and run:

   java --version

   javac --version

   Both commands must report major version 11. The second command confirms that you selected a full JDK rather than a Java runtime without a compiler.

2. Download ExamplesSetupCheck.java from the link at the top of this page and place it in the project’s blue src directory.

3. Open Run > Edit Configurations. Add an Application configuration named Course Tests.

4. Select Store as project file. In the JRE field, select Project SDK (the JDK 11 configured above), set the main class to tester.Main, and set the program arguments to ExamplesSetupCheck.

5. Apply the configuration and run it. The Tester report must show that one test ran and passed.

If this test does not pass, the problem is in the installation, project JDK, library paths, or run configuration. Do not ask an AI system to rewrite the supplied file; diagnose the configuration, asking course staff for help if needed.

2.13 Compare JetBrains and Copilot completion🔗

Download CompletionComparison.java and place it in src. Its comment describes one line that a completion system might suggest. The correct final program prints exactly Setup complete. The Gemini key configured above supplies models to AI Chat; it does not replace JetBrains’ inline-completion provider. This activity therefore compares JetBrains completion with Copilot completion.

2.13.1 JetBrains completion🔗

1. Open Settings > Editor > General > Code Completion > Inline. Enable inline completion using language models and select Cloud or Cloud and local.

2. Use the Copilot status icon to disable Copilot suggestions temporarily.

3. In CompletionComparison.java, place the cursor at the end of the comment, press Enter, and pause. If necessary, request a JetBrains suggestion with Alt+Shift+\.

4. Before accepting anything, record whether a suggestion appeared and whether it contained the exact words Setup complete. Accept a useful suggestion with Tab or reject it with Escape.

5. If you accepted the suggestion, run the program with the green triangle next to main. Record the output.

6. Use Undo until the file is back to the original comment with a blank line beneath it.

If the JetBrains completion option does not appear or produces an access error after you complete the steps above, you may skip this comparison. If you want help, tell course staff which setting or exact error message you see. Do not start a subscription or add a payment method to enable it. This comparison is observational; it is not graded on which model produced the better result.

2.13.2 GitHub Copilot completion🔗

1. Disable JetBrains inline completion in the same settings page.

2. Use the Copilot status icon to enable Copilot suggestions.

3. Repeat the exact cursor, Enter, pause, record, accept-or-reject, and run steps above.

If neither tool produced the required line, type this known-correct line yourself and run the program:

The important result is a working Java installation. Completion is optional assistance, never evidence that a program is correct.

2.14 Choose a provisional default🔗

Choose either JetBrains completion or GitHub Copilot completion as your provisional default and leave only that completion system enabled. You may change your choice later. In a short note, record:

• which system you selected,

• whether each system offered a suggestion,

• whether the suggestion produced the required output, and

• one question you still have about IntelliJ or the setup.

Keep this note for your own comparison; it is not submitted.

Finally, choose File > New Projects Setup > Save Project as Template, name the template CSAS2123, and confirm that the stored project includes the JDK, language level, libraries, and Course Tests run configuration. Future assignments can begin from this template instead of repeating the setup.

3 Setup self-check🔗

Your setup is ready when all of the following are true:

• The IDE uses the JetBrains educational license, not an IDE trial.

• The project SDK and run configuration use JDK 11, and both Java version commands report Java 11, regardless of the JDK’s vendor, local name, or installation path.

• The course code-style settings and line numbers are configured.

• The supplied Tester check runs and passes.

• The JetBrains AI Assistant plugin is installed; no paid JetBrains AI plan was purchased and no payment method was linked.

• The one GitHub account has both your durable personal email and SHU academic email verified, and GitHub Copilot is authenticated with that account under the Copilot Student plan.

• Gemini appears in JetBrains AI Chat and passes Test Connection.

• Exactly one inline completion system is enabled as your provisional default.

• Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is bookmarked under the SHU account.

The ChatGPT Codex connection is optional. If you complete it, verify that Agent Authorization identifies ChatGPT and leave Codex in Read-only mode at the end of the lab.

AI tools are fully permitted on all course work. Follow the syllabus for the course collaboration and acknowledgment rules.