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Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

Hello everyone. Im new to programming in java. Figured id establish a nice forum to be a regular pest on. Anyways.

I’ve just finished reading the book “Beginning programming java for dummies”.

Was a great read but very lack of knowledge. after the first 10 chapters everything became repetitive and was just a review pretty much. I picked up on alot but still need more information.

Can someone refer me to a post, or perhaps a link that will give me some src’s/examples of some java that is heavily commented? I believe hands on is the best approach .

Preferably simple applications or games would be great.

I use JCreator for a compiler. (Please Suggest another if theres anything better)

Im pretty much looking to learn java to make some fun games when people are bored :P.

I’ve made games on a site called “Byond” for about 3 years. and just recently I came to realize how close thier language “DM” is to java. pretty much its all the same except procs are methods… and everything is labled different :P. so help me learn!! :).

Also if anyone has any other suggestions on another great read to get me started please let me know. thanks.

#2

I’d highly recommend the book “Developing Games in Java” by David Brackeen, although a bit old now, its still one of the best java game books I’ve come across. Covers a wide range of topics and is a good introduction to general game development with java.

#3

And try Eclipse out.

Cas :slight_smile:

#4

Killer Game Programing in Java is also a good book (once you know the basics of Java):
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=SVHVgbeMVvoC&dq=killer+game+programing+in+java&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=ZR6-SY6dK5z47AOnoZjuBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result

#5

Go to the FGF players’ portal, I have put about 40 open source games written in Java, it might help you. Good luck.

#6

JCreator is an IDE (Integrated Development Environment). A compiler is usually just a commandline tool to convert the source in some kind of binary language.

Other good free IDEs are Netbeans (my favorite) and Eclipse (currently biggest market share!?) like Cas already mentioned.

#7

Thanks for the replys. Im gonna try out the other IDEs and see how they feel. I may become a regular newb looking for help after i get started and finish another book or 2. Thanks for your help guys. :).

#8

I also read that book, I (and others :D) can vouch for how little I llearned from it.

I learned about 90% of what I learned from google :).(I know it it not acutally google but I am being simple)

also I found that when I came back to that book, I found out some really useful stuff which I had skimmed over.

P.S: I dont get why you named this thread that?

#9

I recommend having a look at Kev’s site: http://www.cokeandcode.com and have a looksee at the tutorials and the free source on there. The Space Invaders tutorial should be specifically helpful.

#10

So i was dipping my feet into another read. And was doing an excercise.

“Use what you learned and make somthing or other”

Learned about… variables, fields. and whatever else. So i figured "hm. ill make a pretend time zone that skips ten minited every second.

Anyways it doesnt work. And here i am :). Im not sure but after i commented out stuff and changed things around ive come to the conclusion int’s cant be altered? Lmao. idk im a slow learner sry. this is my 1st week at trying to learn :). well here it is.

class Timee {
public static void main(String[] args) {
boolean Count=true;
int min = 0;
int hr = 5;
int day = 1;
int month = 1;

	while(Count){
		//System.out.println("Loop restarted");
		min ++;
		if(min >= 60);
			min = 0;
			hr+=1;
			if(hr >= 24);
				hr=0;
				day+=1;
				if(day==31);
					month+=1;
					if(month==12);
						month=1;
		if(hr==6){
    		System.out.println("Good morning! It's 6 AM!");
    	}
    	else if(hr==21){
    		System.out.println("Good night! It' 9 PM.");
    	}
		try {
			Thread.sleep(100);
		}
			catch (InterruptedException x) {
    	
    	}

	}
}

}

What did i learn? Let the pros help me :). lol.

#11

just had a quick look at your code it seems you are using the if statements wrong.

doing a

if(min >= 60);

will do nothing as the “;” part ends the if, you must use brackets to execute multiple lines

e.g.


if (min >= 60) {
    // code in here will be executed, if true
    System.out.println("Hello World!");
}

or if you only want to test one line with the if you can do


if (min >= 60)
System.out.println("Hello World!");

However its best practice to always use brackets when using the if statement.

#12

Awesome. Thanks

Output:

Good morning! It’s 6 AM!
Good night! It’ 9 PM.

Works great :).