Learning Java?

[Ben]

Well I went to a shop and bought a Java book and to my surprise I am very interested in learning Java. Java is a Web programming language and before I bought it I remembered I went to a Web website quite some time ago and it had a Java-powered game, so I was interested in getting to know this programming language. Just to my interest, does anyone else have experience in Java? Or programming languages alike?

[paul]

This two websites will help you lot to learn Java, though it is little bit difficult to learn java;
java.sun.com/javaee/reference/tutorials/ ( Useful stuffs & many downloadables are also available)
javalessons.com/

[Ben]

Thanks Paul for those links. I did visit Sun's tutorials yesterday and I will use both tutorials to recognize the language better.

[DPS Computing]

I had a bit of experience with Java and JavaScript a while back but I have got to say I lost interest and have forgetten most of it. Although I do still have my books so I could relearn .

I have used C/C++/Visual Basic more in the past but obviously these are not the most easiest or necessarily suitable for web development.

I'll be interested to hear your experiences on learning Java to see how similar they were to mine. It took me a while to get going, but when I did, I was like a vaccum for knowledge and speeded through it!

[Ben]

Well I am currently on page 54 - Constants & Variables. I have this book for 2 days nevertheless it has 500+ pages. I have done a bit of research and if you have relevant Java programming experience you can expect salaries ranging from £24,000 to £60,000 but this isn't my main purpose for learning Java. My main purpose for learning Java is to be able to make Java-coded games and programs.

[DPS Computing]

Yes, my purpose was pretty much the same as yours. More for the "I want to do something and I need Java for it" rather than the money - however the money would be nice if a hobby turned into a job .

[CftxP]

Originally Posted by Ben

Well I am currently on page 54 - Constants & Variables. I have this book for 2 days nevertheless it has 500+ pages. I have done a bit of research and if you have relevant Java programming experience you can expect salaries ranging from £24,000 to £60,000 but this isn't my main purpose for learning Java. My main purpose for learning Java is to be able to make Java-coded games and programs.

That's also what I wanted to do, but then I saw all of the other features of Java, and that's another reason I installed it. That page reminds me of a math lesson I needed to know! That's good money for knowing Java! It would be nice earning a few bucks!

[Ben]

It would be good with the income but most companies who are hiring people with JAVA experience require other qualifications as such in computer science, etc. That's probably why the salaries are quite reasonable.

[berbilfruit]

Hi Ben,

I program in Java at work, as well as on the MSc I'm doing part time. I couldn't recommend any book more than one called Head First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates, it takes you through the whole Object-Oriented way of programming in a pretty interesting way. Get a hold of that and a copy of Eclipse or NetBeans and just muck around for a bit!

It's probably worth just doing the command line stuff for a while before you get into the web-based stuff, as that can be a lot of extra stuff to learn (jsps, tomcat, possibly MVC etc...).

I couldn't really talk about the gaming stuff, I met someone who worked on the xbox and he was doing a lot of C and C++....if you learn how to program in one object-oriented language it's usually not a huge transition to pick up another after that (java and C# are pretty similar).

[Ben]

Originally Posted by berbilfruit

Hi Ben,

I program in Java at work, as well as on the MSc I'm doing part time. I couldn't recommend any book more than one called Head First Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates, it takes you through the whole Object-Oriented way of programming in a pretty interesting way. Get a hold of that and a copy of Eclipse or NetBeans and just muck around for a bit!

It's probably worth just doing the command line stuff for a while before you get into the web-based stuff, as that can be a lot of extra stuff to learn (jsps, tomcat, possibly MVC etc...).

I couldn't really talk about the gaming stuff, I met someone who worked on the xbox and he was doing a lot of C and C++....if you learn how to program in one object-oriented language it's usually not a huge transition to pick up another after that (java and C# are pretty similar).

Hello,

I have read that Java is similar to C++ in the book I bought. Once I have learned Java I might consider learning C++ or C# whatever is more convenient for the work I plan on doing. In a couple of years time, I will probably have much more experiences in both Java and C#/C++ languages and thus I may be looking for a job in that field. However my main purpose for learning Java at the moment is to make games and other browser-based programs alike. I did consider learning PHP however I discontinued with PHP. Once I have mastered C#/C++ it may be more convenient to learn PHP. Thank you for your comment nevertheless!

[DPS Computing]

It is quite a big step from PHP to C++ but good luck and I hope you enjoy learning! What other computing experience / qualifications do you have / are studying for Ben?

[Ben]

At the moment I will only be getting experience in JAVA. Afterwhich I may consider learning C#/C++ because it may be easier to learn as JAVA has syntax of C#/C++ I believe.

[DPS Computing]

Yes, there are similarities between Java and C#/C++.

C / C++ is a very good language to know, it is the basis of most if not all programs, including other programming languages! If you know that then you are starting to master computer programming.

However, in my experience, C / C++ is the hardest and longest language to learn so make sure you have to commitment to see it through to the level you need / want it!

Hope that helps .