Noob Questions From Nickropheliac: Ive been practicing for 2 weeks and...

Newbie & Debugging Questions
#1

I’ve been practicing Java for 2 weeks and even when I look at the Newbie threads, I feel bad because, if they’re noobies what am I? Im practicing everyday. I’m reading books, watching thenewcherno’s video series. What do you guys think? If you could shine a light on your Java learning experience that would be appreciated.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Thanks Guys, 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    The Nickropheliac (Nick)
#2

Um… everyone starts somewhere and you’ve been using Java for only 2 weeks… You’re not going to master it over night.

#3

5 years here and I consider myself decent. It’s a skill that takes a long time to become good at.
You should keep looking through the newbie threads, because you can learn from their problems and our solutions.

#4

I’ve been learning and using Java for a couple of years now, and even I consider myself a noob. But that doesn’t stop me from writing code and producing things I like to make. So I think that you should focus on expanding your skills instead of wondering if you’re a noob or not.

#5

4 years here , I started out a bit like you thinking it wouldnt take took long , even some of the newbie threads here I look at them and just go what on earth. But you also have to understand that as you move into programming some areas you will be very strong at and some areas you will be weak at , some of the threads I look at that I have no clue at whats going on is because its an area of java that just boggles me . Like polymorphism , when you first see it you go what on earth but when you get to use it you realise how useful it is.

#6

Medals for everyone! Nickropheliac, +1 for making me laugh :slight_smile:

Edit: Just kidding I think Riven wouldn’t like me promoting that sort of thing. Too late.
Please don’t feed me to the Monster.

#7

Oh dont worry people post there all the times because its the Newbie & Debugging Questions. So whenever I dont know how to do anything I would post it there anyway

#8

I dedicated every moment of my free time to learning programming for 3 months straight, and that just got me well enough off to make a very buggy “game” that was all of 500 buggy lines that barely ran and was totally against pretty much all coding standards. It consisted of an extremely basic tile engine (based off TilEd so half the work wasn’t even mine) and allowed you to move a character around on a engine-generated map. The fanciest thing it has was a cookie cutter (almost a direct C/P) of a Alpha Map based lighting system.

Also keep in mind, I have/had no kids and at the time I hadn’t decide to go back to college quite yet. So that was basically all my after-work free time, roughly 10-12 hours a day, I consider myself an extremely fast learner who also already had a background in many programming-like areas, like scripting languages, modding games, etc. So while I couldn’t program, I understood before I even started how a computer “thinks” and it still took me 3 months to make what was basically a pile of garbage.

I’ve been programming for about 2 years now, and I still consider myself a “newbie”. I feel I’ve made an insurmountable amount of progress in only two years, but I’m still no where near a level I would consider myself any more than “kinda decent”.

Trust me, you’re doing fine. That’s the problem with programming, it really does take that long. Many of the regulars here who do post in Newbie/Debugging may seem like “newbies” but they may already have over a year of programming under their belt. Hell, I still post help topics sometimes too. :smiley:

#9

I’ve used Java for years, but I still learn new things every day. It’s simply not possible to know everything about every API in Java, and that is relatively simple compared to learning how to write a well-structured program. One of the things you learn is how to ask the right questions when you have a problem, or to put it differently how to break down problems into small solvable chunks. Once you can do that, you can do lot even with fairly limited knowledge.

#10

I’m barely employable and I’ve been doing this sort of thing for 34 years :smiley: (Java for about 15 of those!) Trouble is the older I get the less I seem to know.

Cas :slight_smile:

#11

Don’t let the stuff up there scare you off though! Years might seem long, but they are really not if you set yourself goals and keep working on reaching them.

#12

That’s just wisdom. When I was young, I thought I knew everything. Now, that I’m older, I know I don’t know everything - nor will I ever. And, I’m good with that :slight_smile:

#13

I started coding a year ago, never realised how fast it flew in.

Personally I think there just comes a time when suddenly everything just “clicks”, now I don’t mean that you suddenly know everything but you suddenly get everything. It gets to the point that you just understand what code is doing, even if you didn’t know it could be done like that.

#14

I can agree with this. Until you look at other languages in other paradigms, then you need clicked again.

#15

Yeah, there is definitely a point where there’s a sudden clarity that pops out of no where, like a door has been opened. Once you break past that point all the puzzle pieces start falling into place, and it no longer becomes “what the hell is all this?”, “what the f**k is going on here?!!” as much as “How can I solve this problem?” and learning new things.

That’s the problem with programming, reaching the moment of clarity is a lot harder in programming than most other hobbies, before you get there you feel like a total idiot. Then, suddenly, click and you become a productive programmer. Does that mean you’re an expert? Hardly. But that moment of clarity when everything starts making sense is one of the first and most important (and hardest) steps. :smiley:

#16

The click occurs much quicker :p.

I looked at C# for the first time ever yesterday, after about 30 minutes of messing around I was like “this is the same shit, in a different order” lol.

#17

C# is not another language. Not really.

#18

From what I have seen, read and been told. It essentially what Java would be if it was wrapped around DirectX. I can not see much differences in the language itself, not from code snippets anyway.

Should probably get back on topic before people get into a Java vs [Insert other language here] debates :p.

#19

Usually, but note the “other languages in other paradigms.” C# is not only the same paradigm, but the same syntax family/style as Java.
Now look at Haskell :stuck_out_tongue:

#20

I still think Haskell’s syntax is just a huge, sadistic joke that’s being played on all of us. :stuck_out_tongue: