Adding Processing's core.jar to VS Code

[techsupport2544]

Hello!
I’m somewhat new to processing and have only used it in IntelliJ / Eclipse, yet I’m trying to configure it inside VSCode. Adding core.jar into referenced libraries allows the program to be run, yet VSCode complains about every variable instance (pMouseX, pMouseY) of processing being used, even the import line.
for example, the import statement will tell me that “package processing.core does not exist”

another example is with an extends call, where it says “cannot find Symbol: class PApplet”

Does anyone know how to solve this? Thank you!

[sableraph]

Hi @techsupport2544 and welcome to the forum!

Though it doesn’t exactly answer your question, I wanted to mention there is an official Processing extension for VS Code:

Processing - Visual Studio Marketplace

[techsupport2544]

I would but it is for a requirement that I must use .java files and not rather .pde, hence why I’m trying to import it. Thanks for the idea though, I’ll consider using it on other projects

[sableraph]

In that case, Gradle is probably the most convenient option. You can look at the template found here:

https://github.com/processing/processing4/tree/main/java/gradle/example (This is for .pde files but it shouldn’t be too hard to make it work for .java files)

More instructions here: https://github.com/processing/processing4/tree/main/java/gradle

Note that Processing core libraries are published on Maven central:

https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/org.processing/core

[sableraph]

Ok I did a bit more digging (with suggestions from Claude Opus 4.7) and the following worked for me:

Project layout

my-sketch/
├── build.gradle.kts
└── src/
    └── main/
        └── java/
            └── MySketch.java

build.gradle.kts

plugins {
    java
    application
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation("org.processing:core:4.5.3")
}

application {
    mainClass.set("MySketch")
}

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17))
    }
}

src/main/java/MySketch.java

import processing.core.PApplet;

public class MySketch extends PApplet {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        PApplet.main("MySketch", args);
    }

    @Override
    public void settings() {
        size(800, 600);
    }

    @Override
    public void setup() {
        background(0);
    }

    @Override
    public void draw() {
        fill(255);
        noStroke();
        ellipse(mouseX, mouseY, 40, 40);
    }
}

Run with gradle run.

[stefterv]

Thanks Raph! The Gradle Plugin also works with .java files out of the box!

[glv]

Hello,

P2D and P3D did not work for me with the configuration provided.

I had to copy the these into a new lib folder in root of sketch folder:

And modify build.gradle.kts:

plugins {
    java
    application
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation(fileTree("lib") {
        include("*.jar")
    })
}

application {
    mainClass.set("MySketch")
}

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17))
    }
}

:)

[sableraph]

Hmm, that’s strange. I don’t have this issue on my end (see the screenshot below)

@glv

I had to copy the these into a new lib folder in root of sketch folder:

Great that you found a workaround. At the same time, it kind of defeats the purpose of using Maven Central if you still have to manually add .jar files to the project

I wonder what is different about your setup. What does the rest of your project look like and what error message did you get when running the Gradle setup suggested above?

[glv]

Hello @sableraph,

Please share your:
build.gradle.kts

I did try variations of this (many) that did not work:

dependencies {
    // 1. Processing Core
    implementation("org.processing:core:4.5.3")

    // 2. JOGL & GlueGen (Core + Natives)
    // Version 2.3.2 is reliable on Maven Central for Windows
    val joglVersion = "2.6.0"
    implementation("org.jogamp.jogl:jogl-all-main:$joglVersion")
    implementation("org.jogamp.gluegen:gluegen-rt-main:$joglVersion")
}

Can you expand your external libraries?
Want to see what you have there so we are on the same page.

I am still exploring this.

Thanks!

[sableraph]

@glv

Please share your:
build.gradle.kts

It’s the same one I shared in my previous message:

plugins {
    java
    application
}

repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    implementation("org.processing:core:4.5.3")
}

application {
    mainClass.set("MySketch")
}

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17))
    }
}

@glv

Can you expand your external libraries?
Want to see what you have there so we are on the same page.

That might be why… I have gluegen and jogl in there. Good catch

[sableraph]

@stefterv

The Gradle Plugin also works with .java files out of the box!

@stefterv: Is it meant to work with P2D and P3D? Looks like gluegen and jogl don’t get included by default when importing org.processing:core:4.5.3 from Maven Central.

[glv]

@sableraph

Looks like gluegen and jogl don’t get included by default when importing org.processing:core:4.5.3 from Maven Central.

This reference suggests that they need to be added:

Using P2D outside the PDE

On a positive note I have improved my workflow with VS Code.
Always save files when making changes before running! This caught me off guard a few times and I though it was working.

This worked as well (gets the core and I added requried libs for P2D/P3D) at my end:

:)

[sableraph]

@glv

This reference suggests that they need to be added

That comment pre-dates the Gradle template though, and there’s been a lot of effort going into improving the experience of using Processing outside the PDE, especially thanks to Stef’s work with Gradle, so I should hope there is a way for this setup to work without manually adding .jar files to your project

[glv]

Hello @sableraph,

I managed to get it working with this on Windows 10:

Gradle Template for Processing 4.x with Java 17 (IntelliJ/VS Code ready)

Thanks @noah-devtech! It worked as is! I scaled it down for my use case with VS Code and JAVA2D, P2D and P3D on Windows 10 and it worked. I only used this file: build.gradle.kts plugins { id("java") id("application") } repositories { mavenCentral() } java { toolchain { languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(17)) } } val processingVersion = "4.5.3" val joglVersion = "2.6.0" dependencies { implementation("org.processing:core:$processingVersion") /…

:)

[techsupport2544]

is it possible to do without gradle? Or is it designed around it?

[glv]

@techsupport2544

is it possible to do without gradle?

Yes.

This was what I did initially:

I had a couple Java versions so had to tell it which one to use.

A couple ways:

• Copy the required JAR files to a lib folder. I did that in my example.
• Link to them directly:
  Managing Java Projects in VS Code Not tested!

You can search for the JAR files to find the correct path.

I may not be using the recommended directory structure since I was just testing.

:)

[techsupport2544]

you didn’t get intellisense errors?

[stefterv]

Maven Central: org.processing:core Strange, it does list the dependencies here

[sableraph]

@glv I tried with a clean project outside of IntelliJ and it does run for me:

I even did a more isolated build from a temporary Gradle home directory by running:

TMP=$(mktemp -d)
GRADLE_USER_HOME=$TMP gradle run

It redownloaded the dependencies and ran without errors:

[glv]

Hello @techsupport2544,

@techsupport2544

you didn’t get intellisense errors?

In the method here (copy JARs to lib folder) I did not get IntelliSense errors:

Adding Processing's core.jar to VS Code

Yes. This was what I did initially: [image] I had a couple Java versions so had to tell it which one to use. A couple ways: Copy the required JAR files to a lib folder. I did that in my example. Link to them directly: Managing Java Projects in VS Code Not tested! You can search for the JAR files to find the correct path. I may not be using the recommended directory structure since I was just testing.

These are extensions enable so there are no surprises:

This topic is marked as solved so I will be ending my participation in this.
The solution did not work for me on Windows 10 with P2D/P3D and I have shared my solutions for that environment.

I am still exploring this…

:)