My name is Alex, and i’m 24 years old, i have been working with computers ever since i was around 5, and it still keeps me interested.
I have always wanted to develop stuff, games etc, but it always came down to Java, eventhough i hear people in the daily saying “AAAY, C++ is better for game development” i still think of Java as being the greatest.
As stated in my topic i am very new into Java, so i had a few questions for you guys, eventhough you have heard it a million times before, but hey, someone has to start somewhere
What websites are good for starters like me, which explains the very basics of Java programming?
What software do you guys use to develop Java in?
Is there any books i can spend money on, which will help me even more in my journey through Java?
I don’t know about other people, but me personally, I cannot make myself to read tutorials on basic subjects. There are plenty of videos which teach you basic java programming.
I use Eclipse IDE (Integrated Development Environment). There is also Netbeans and plenty more. You just should use the one you like the most… (Comfortable -> More work done)
Didn’t read any books about programming yet Can’t help in this area…
+1 for Bruce Eckel’s Thinking in Java - it does a very good job at explaining OO-thinking and java. At least back in 2000, it was the best introductory book on java.
It’s very fun to read, it’s the only programming book that cracked some jokes that make me actually laugh out loud. It’s pretty funny when your wife looks over at you because you’re laughing while reading a programming book.
If you are new to java I recommend you download the the book “Thinking in Java” by Bruce Eckle. You can download it for free. Its a great book and introduces the concepts used in java programming in one of the most logical ways I’ve ever seen.
Also, code a lot and don’t be worried if you get frustrated! I assume you haven’t programmed before, and that’s why you’re asking this question, so disregard my post if you have programmed! But programming is one of those things where you have to get into the mindset of it. Your brain has to interpret issues in a certain way and then solve them. Many people can do it, but they can’t do it well and programming turns them off. Just stick to it and keep coding and eventually it’ll be a piece of cake!
[h2]Just some general thoughts:[/h2]If there’s one thing you shouldn’t do, it’s jumping straight into game development. For a start, learn the language. Use whatever works for you. To counteract what other people recommend, I personally don’t think that watching videos is a good way to learn, as all you’re doing is copying and pasting/reading the code that is written. People generally make a lot of mistakes in their videos and teach you bad practices. That said, keep an open mind. They’re useful for getting a basic idea of some programming concepts.
What worked for me was reading The Java Tutorial, Googling things that I didn’t understand, and just writing programs that did some simple calculations. After I felt confident enough and I’d learnt a good bulk of the language, I started exploring game development and learnt the rest of the language from there.
Have you ever programmed before? Java might be a tough first language, it has a strict syntax. But if you can learn java as a first language im sure( because of that strict syntax) it would promote good practices.
If it means anything, I am an example of your argument. Unless you consider webdev code (HTML, PHP, etc) a “programming language”, Java is my first programming language.
If you have not programmed before I would recommend to start without IDE. Only a simple text editor and command line to learn the basics. THEN, after several months, pick up Eclipse and learn it. THEN make some games.
This advice only works for people unable to detect their own crutches. Starting with notepad is just silly, when an IDE in itself can help you along by telling you what you did wrong. It’s a time waster to use notepad and do it all manually, you’ll end up spending hours trying to figure out you forgot one semicolon or a bracket brace.
If you’re too dumb to be able to learn from your mistakes when the IDE tells you that you made them or just and/or just let it “fix your code” for you all the time, you shouldn’t be programming in the first place.
You may learn a lot more about his life than programming, but you learn a lot more programming than you do with most of the other tutorials out there. He goes very slow, and explains everything in exacting, easy to understand detail. The only reason I could see people failing to learn with TheNewBoston is they’re too impatient to actually watch all the videos in the series and give them their full attention.
I do agree with your first point, Ray. However, I understand where JVallius is coming from. Learning how to run and debug your own project without using an IDE is certainly a useful skill you might need someday, but a few months is very much far too long. Maybe spend a couple days learning how to do it, and then just stop doing it because honestly I have no idea why you would never have access to an IDE.
I do disagree about theNewBoston though, he is ok at teaching but really you can learn everything he talks about in a quarter of the time. The only reason I like him is because he seems to be a really smart person, and he has a wide range of tutorials on youtube. He’s a nice way to get started when you want to learn a new language without buying a book, but don’t expect him to teach you the full language. Actually, you as the watcher shouldn’t actually think he will, because he won’t. For learning a little bit about a function here or there, he’s good. But if you actually want to learn something larger than a snippet of code he’s not. And yes, he rambles too much.
Yeah, I agree TheNewBoston can be painfully slow sometimes. But I think he’s great for your “first run through” when you really are a blank slate and have no fricken clue. I think the reason he seems slow to us now is because we already understand these concepts, we’re more or less looking for refreshers, and we don’t need 10 minutes to explain 2 lines of code.
But when you’re first learning, it’s really nice. Even things as simple as explaining want an “int” and “String” is, is critical to complete newbies who really don’t understand the basic structure of programming. For example, his videos were really the only ones that easily explained to me what inheritance, arrays, while loops and some of the more beginner-intermediate stuff is and how they actually work back when I was a nooblet.
He’s great for blank slates who need spoonfed, although I agree he is painfully slow for those of us who just want a refresher. For example, I watched one of his videos a few weeks ago because I brainfarted how to do something pretty basic I just don’t do often, and half the video I was thinking “Just get to the point!!”. But when I watched the video the first time I didn’t feel that way at all. I was glued in, following every word.
Can’t help in this area…
Starting with notepad is just silly, when an IDE in itself can help you along by telling you what you did wrong. It’s a time waster to use notepad and do it all manually, you’ll end up spending hours trying to figure out you forgot one semicolon or a bracket brace.