# Getting Started

If you are new to Saxon or to Java or to XML, XSLT, and XQuery, here is a quick checklist:

1. Download the software (you will typically start with the open-source version) from SourceForge. It will run on any machine that supports Java.

2. The software comes as a zip file. Unzip it into a suitable directory, for example `c:\saxon`.

3. Make sure that a suitable Java JDK is installed on your machine. If necessary, download and install J2SE 5.0 from http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp

4. Make sure that all the necessary files are on your classpath - this is the list of resource available to the Java VM. For details, see Installation.

5. If you are using Saxon-SA, the commercial schema-aware version of Saxon, you will need to obtain a file containing a licence key. This file, called `saxon-license.lic`, must be placed in a directory that is listed on the Java classpath. Note that it is the directory that must be on the classpath, not the `saxon-license.lic` file itself.

6. Saxon doesn't come with a graphical user interface: it's designed to be integrated into other tools and applications. You will therefore start by using it from the operating system command line. On Windows, you may want to install a text editor such as `jEdit` that offers a more friendly command line than the standard DOS console provided by Microsoft.

You can now run one of the sample stylesheets or queries that comes with the product. Assuming you installed into `c:\saxon`, make this your current directory, and type:

for XSLT:

    java -jar saxon8.jar -t samples\data\books.xml samples\styles\books.xsl >c:\temp.html

for XQuery:

    java -cp saxon8.jar net.sf.saxon.Query -t samples\styles\books.xq >c:\temp.html

Now open `c:\temp.html` in your browser to check that it worked.

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