How to start self learning Java

[tamil Aarasu]

Hi Friend

I need to learn java by self please suggest your opinion

1)for doing practical work in my system what i have to install to my system i got some idea about java but i have got practical knowledge

2)after my installation i need to do some basic sample so that i can get some idea practically please suggest from where can i start

3)which tool ll be preferable (i have jdeveloper installed in my system) ..

4)which ll be the best book for java beginners one of friend suggest me to learn(HEAD FIRST JAVA book) tell me your opinion

help me in learning

Cheers

Aarasu

[Stephan van Hulst]

You can start here: http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/

As for tools, use a simple text editor with syntax highlighting. I hear good things about Notepad++.

[Henry Dk]

A good book is this one,

Java How to Program (6th Edition) (How to Program (Deitel))

I am using Netbeans to compile and run. GOOGLE and download for free.

If you are new to programming then be patient and work through every page and example that you can do.

If you already know how to program then FOR ME these examples have shown me a bit more light on how to manage Java. The thinking process is different than in straight C or Fortran programming.

http://java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/tools/netbeans_part1/#figure2
http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/uiswing/index.html
http://www.bluej.org/

more complicated
http://www.javapractices.com/topic/TopicAction.do;jsessionid=4F0AA0FE3698E2506D9072CD0746805C?Id=166

[Campbell Ritchie]

henry deeker wrote: . . . Java How to Program (6th Edition) (How to Program (Deitel))

Agree. Get any of the "Java™ How To" books edition ≥ 6th. You can get them second-hand for a very reasonable price. But go through the Deitel Website first and see if you can find a sample chapter; many people dislike the Deitel style intensely. I suggest, if there is an "early objects" and "late objects" edition, got for "early".

henry deeker wrote:I am using Netbeans to compile and run. GOOGLE and download for free.

Disagree. NetBeans and other IDEs have a steep learning curve, so it is awkward to learn Java™ at the same time as the IDE.

. . . and welcome to the Ranch

[Mezan Shareef]

Hi tamil,
How are you? When you are learning programming language, think first that, why you are learning it, it is not at all easy to learn, atleast not easy as it looks, you can think that you can learn java in 6 - 8 months, its not like that, you will only be aware of java, by that time. You need to be more and more careful and be patient while learning java. Make up your mind before you start, that learning java is a long term consistent process. I got mad in middle and i teared 2 java books. Because i was unable to solve few programs.

Important thing is that, 1.please find a good person, who can clear your doubts, you may think by yourself you will learn it. Becoz most of the people in forums post that they learn by themselfs, do not believe, may be there could be one person who might have learned by himself, rest are all liers. You need to talk to people more about concepts and understanding concept, no matter how much you read books, you can not understand few things, everything remins unclear.2. Always ask even simple doubts in forums,. 3. Code more than you read. This is very important.. After you do these things as times goes on you will feel confident.

Selecting a book to read is very much important. There are many books, which are more complicated, there are few books like simple and easy to understand, there are books which are moderate. Like beginners, intermediate, expert level... Choose beginners level book, Do not try to learn complete java at your first take. That is impossible. Learn java concept-wise. i mean follow one book, If you jump to different books, you may loose interest eventually. Take book, where you get more java examples to practice, and also where you can test your knowledge of java. Not all books are like that. They teach but they do not test. Its waste to learn with out taking test. because you may... i can not explain this. Many say go with head first java, its good. I also say its good. But it teachs you taking a simple project kind and it goes on expanding that project. I like it. But, But, But. you will not learn java like that, you will learn to do that particular project. For you to expand your knowledge you need a book like
Introduction to Programming by Daniel liang. This book has many examples, and also many practice exercises. Only this can help, I started with this, jumped to other books, bow i came back to it. Only this helped me to improve my knowledge, by doing more, you will know it more. THere are answers availble to this Books exercises, and self test. Ask people what is particular concept and practice examples on particular concept. as many as that book has.

After one year you will be feeling good and special than others,, If you stick to only this book. I don't feel that way,now, may be later i will feel. One more thing, be flexible while you learn java, try to listen to other people, but accept only what you feel you can be comfortable with.

All the Best.!!

"Slow and steady will win the race for sure."No matter what.

[tamil Aarasu]

Hi Friends

Thanks for your suggestion i feel better now i think in positive that i can do ...and thanks for welcoming me

Thank You guys

Aarasu

[Henry Dk]

Thanks for the advice Mezan. I completely agree with you about seeing variety of projects. The simple one may put you to sleep thinking you understand.

This one for instance taught me a lot in short time,
http://www.functionx.com/java/applications/algebra.htm

Good Luck

[Campbell Ritchie]

henry deeker wrote: . . . This one for instance taught me a lot in short time, . . .

Good Luck

But it isn't Java™.

[Henry Dk]

But it isn't Java™.

Not an accurate comment.

The code below is incorrect to a point, but a closer look at the example shows that it is Java™ code. Someone was lazy to put it all right as the example is used for C# and other languages. At least it is helpful.

using System;

namespace Algebra2
{
public class Algebra
{
public static long Factorial(long x)
{
if (x <= 1)
return 1;
else
return x * Factorial(x - 1);
}

Java™ code?

package Accessories;
import javax.swing.JOptionPane;
import Algebra.Factors;

public class Central extends javax.swing.JFrame {

Correcting mistakes is an excellent learning tool as nothing works first time. To fix the ones in this example will not be time wasted for someone learning IMHO.

[Jesper de Jong]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:But it isn't Java™.

That page looks really strange. It talks about NetBeans and creating a new Java class, and then it shows source code in C# in step 15. The code in later steps is in fact Java. Really strange, as if the person who made that page doesn't really know what he's talking about...

There are much better tutorials, like Oracle's Java Tutorials which were already mentioned above.

[Henry Dk]

Tamil

Look at this tutorial. It explains very well the programming thinking process and what is in a Java™ application.

http://java.sun.com/new2java/divelog/part1/part1.pdf

[john price]

This code is one of the most basic Java classes you will see...
This code is runnable!

final public class Place { //creates a class called Place...has to be named Place.java
private static boolean you_know_a_bit_of_programming; //introduces a boolean variable that is static
final public static void main(String[] args) { //main code that actually does stuff
if (you_know_a_bit_of_programming) { //if (true) {do code} else if (false) {do nothing}
System.out.println("Just buy Head First Java by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates"); //Print out to the system ""
} //end if statement
else { //if (!you_know_a_bit_of_programming) {do code}
System.out.println("Buy Head First Java by Kathy Sierra & Bert Bates and Java for Dummies by Barry Burd"); //Print out to the system ""
} //end else statement
} //end main
} //end class

// = comments that you can use while writing java

[jake dickens]

tamil Aarasu wrote:Hi Friend

I need to learn java by self please suggest your opinion

1)for doing practical work in my system what i have to install to my system i got some idea about java but i have got practical knowledge

2)after my installation i need to do some basic sample so that i can get some idea practically please suggest from where can i start

3)which tool ll be preferable (i have jdeveloper installed in my system) ..

4)which ll be the best book for java beginners one of friend suggest me to learn(HEAD FIRST JAVA book) tell me your opinion

help me in learning

Cheers

Aarasu

My suggestion is that you just use notepad++ jdk & jre also to buy HEAD FIRST JAVA it is very easy to understand i'm reading it will force you to learn it because it will heave cross word puzzles then it will have questions for you to answer, it will have the code messed up and gotta put it back, also it will have you be the complier try not to run it tho the computer think of it in your mind and you will begin to learn java very easy and quickly the book have 19 chapters..

[Tapan Maru]

I advice purchase The Class of Java book written by Mr. Pravin Jain.

An excellent book for Core Java Programming.

google the book name if you want to get idea of the book prior to purchase it. But my personal advice is Have It.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Please provide a link for that book, since Amazon don't seem to recognise it.

[Souvvik Basu]

I read through all the posts, and didnt find anyone suggesting Head First JAVA (except the initiator of the post). I'm a bit surprised, since I found that book very helpful.
And I think using an IDE can be harmful in the early stages, since an IDE will point out many mistakes to the programmer;instead, if notepad is used and programs compiled/run from the command prompt, all such mistakes will throw errors/warnings, providing a good opportunity to learn.

Does anyone agree?

[Rohit Mehta]

Souvvik Basu wrote: .. if notepad is used and programs compiled/run from the command prompt, all such mistakes will throw errors/warnings, providing a good opportunity to learn.

Does anyone agree?

Agree, to start with notepad is noble thought .. Also java certification book by Khalid Moughal is a good start too.

[Campbell Ritchie]

MS Notepad is not at all good for programming. If you are on DOS/Windows, NotePad2, NotePad++ and jEdit are much better.

[Rohit Mehta]

Oh indeed, by notepad I meant not using IDE actually

[Mykhailo Kozik]

I recommend to you read
1. Horstmann "Core Java"
2. Eckel "Thinking in Java"

[Campbell Ritchie]

Tapan Maru wrote: . . . The Class of Java book written by Mr. Pravin Jain. . . .

As I said earlier, can we have a link to that book; I couldn't find it on Amazon.

[Sander Silva]

Use NetBeans IDE. It will make your coding effort so much easier.
Good Luck

http://netbeans.org/downloads/

[Lalit Mehra]

If you really want to learn and explore JAVA I'll recommend you to NOT to USE any sort of third party suites like NET BEANS IDE or ECLIPSE ...

use notepad++ or some similar application ...
write code yourself ... do not just copy and paste
and try to know why something is happening the way it is happening rather than just taking it that way (that it happens like this only)

happy coding ...

and yes a good book for startup is HEAD FIRST JAVA

[Parman Dhaliwal]

Hello brother.

I suggest using Youtube videos for help. Here is the Youtube channel of my teacher, who teaches grade 10 to 12 computer science, in Java.

https://www.youtube.com/user/mrprowse/videos

If you do not like his videos, you can try to find some that you like.

I hope this is helpful. Good luck.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

I looked at your teacher's factorial method, which is quite good. Do you know what happens if you try that same factorial method with arguments > 20? Or even with arguments > 65?
I would write it without using if‑else or multiple returns. And work out what the letter L in the following code means:-

public static long factorial(int i)
{
   return i == 0 ? 1L : i * factorial(i - 1);
}

. . . and what will happen if you pass a negative argument to that method?

[Felix Kössler]

Here is a good Tutorial: https://youtu.be/wq2hP_k3VpU

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch

I am afraid I think that tutorial is worse than most of those I have seen.