Learning Java by your own

[Ashish Ramteke]

First of all, a BIG HELLO to all the Java-friends!!! This is my first post here, in a very helping community!

Hello, I want to learn Java.
I know the concepts of C and C++. Now, I want to learn Java in order to get a good job. I am a fresher right now. I believe I have good coding skills.

I've decided to go for it by my own using books for study.

I learnt very basic Java two years ago, so, first of all now, I am going to use the book "Head First Java" and the "SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam: Study Guide" by Katherine Sierra and Bert Bates so that I could go on for the Java certification of 'OCPJP SE 6'.

And later on I am planning to learn the topics of the advanced level of Java, that too by myself.

About the core Java, I am confident to learn it well. But I do not know that can the Java's advanced level topics be learnt just by my own.

Please folks tell me that will it be better (or good) to learn them by my own or to get a training from an institute (I cannot afford Oracle's Java training costs). Will this study consume too much of my time? What do you think?

Thanks in advance.

[Campbell Ritchie]

Welcome to the Ranch
I always worry about people who say they are learning on their own; without supervision by skilled people they can rapidly develop bad or dangerous habits. If you are already a competent programmer, do you understand object‑orientation? If so, you will probably find learning the syntax of Java atop your pre‑existing skills quite easy. You can learn the basics of the language in a few weeks, if you already understand the concepts.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:Welcome to the Ranch
I always worry about people who say they are learning on their own; without supervision by skilled people they can rapidly develop bad or dangerous habits. If you are already a competent programmer, do you understand object‑orientation? If so, you will probably find learning the syntax of Java atop your pre‑existing skills quite easy. You can learn the basics of the language in a few weeks, if you already understand the concepts.

Hello sir! Thank you for such a quick response!

Thank you very much for giving me an early advice that if I am not under supervision of skilled people, I may develop dangerous programming habits.
I understand object-orientation a little bit, but not fully. But, well, when I learnt very basic Java, I became familiar and was quite a bit comfortable with the syntax.
Before this I was thinking about exploring Java by myself by reading books, but now I think that I should learn basic java by myself and get the training for the advanced topics.

Thanks again for the help!

[Nam Ha Minh]

Hi Ashish Ramteke,

I think you can learn yourself by reading books and practicing examples, coding apps, asking questions, improving code,.. and repeat again. There are many guys here can provide insights and best practice for freshers like you.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Thank you so much Nam Ha Minh!

[Campbell Ritchie]

Nam Ha Minh wrote: . . . There are many guys here can provide insights and best practice for freshers like you.

The good news: You can learn a lot from us here on the Ranch.
The better news: You can probably get somebody here to teach you personally.
The bad news: You will have to part with money!!

And, “you’re welcome ”

[Nam Ha Minh]

Yeah, we would have more motivation to learn if we lost money

[Ashish Ramteke]

Campbell Ritchie wrote:

Nam Ha Minh wrote: . . . There are many guys here can provide insights and best practice for freshers like you.

The good news: You can learn a lot from us here on the Ranch.
The better news: You can probably get somebody here to teach you personally.
The bad news: You will have to part with money!!

And, “you’re welcome ”

Ok.. I would like to know about the personal training. How can I get someone here to teach me personally? Is it by contacting them and asking them about how do they think about giving me a personal training? How can the training be given, on this website (or on some other website they would tell)? (I know that the latter depends on the person I will be contacting.)
But, I will start myself first and then frequently refer the Ranch and if need be I will think about having a personal training from someone.
Thanks for the help!

[Campbell Ritchie]

You could post on the “Jobs Offered” forum. You must specify a location, so you can get somebody local.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Ok.

[Ashish Ramteke]

HI!
Is there any 3rd edition of 'Head First Java' book.. Is it available in the market? A learnt on a link on the O' Reilly's website that the book was to cover probably Java 6.0 or 7.0, but that discussion was not a recent one.
I already have the 2nd edition of the book that covers Java 5.0, and I am planning to read it for the preparation of 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam, along with the book 'SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam: Study Guide' by K&B. Actually, I wanted to know that if I am studuing 'Head First Java's 2nd ed. (Java 5.0), what additional study will I need to do in order to be able to prepare nicely for the 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam. Or, also studying the other book ('SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam: Study Guide' by K&B) will prepare me for the 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam.
Thanks.

[Campbell Ritchie]

As far as I can tell from the O’Reilly website, there is no 3rd edition available yet.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Hello sir! Can you please tell me about what is OCJP and what is OCPJP and clear my confusion?

[Rameshwar Soni]

Ashish Ramteke wrote: Can you please tell me about what is OCJP and what is OCPJP and clear my confusion?

You must have heard of SCJP (Sun certified Java programmer) exam, now its no longer SCJP but OCPJP ( Oracle certified professional Java programmer) i.e. its a Java certification exam conducted by Oracle. More information here

And there's nothing like OCJP, but some people tend to say OCPJP as OCJP just because its easier to speak OCJP rather than OCPJP. We also have a separate section for asking certification queries, its here

[K. Tsang]

Ashish Ramteke wrote: I already have the 2nd edition of the book that covers Java 5.0, and I am planning to read it for the preparation of 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam, along with the book 'SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam: Study Guide' by K&B. Actually, I wanted to know that if I am studuing 'Head First Java's 2nd ed. (Java 5.0), what additional study will I need to do in order to be able to prepare nicely for the 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam. Or, also studying the other book ('SCJP Sun Certified Programmer for Java 6 Exam: Study Guide' by K&B) will prepare me for the 'OCPJP 6.0 SE' exam.
Thanks.

There isn't much difference between the v5 and v6 version of OCP-JP. If you look at the objectives in details, Java 6 exam has added java.io.Console API, added java.util.NavigableSet/Map for collections, removed System.gc() garbage collection.

Honestly GC need to know. The new needed API are just add-ons.

So having learned Java 5 plus the new needed API from Java 6 will put you on the right track. Of course practice is the way to go.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Thank you so much Rameshwar Soni!! Thanks for clearing my confusion!!!

And thanks so much K. Tsang for guiding me regarding the additions made to Java SE 5.0 (to make it Java 6.0)!!!
(K. Tsang, sorry, but I did not understand the meaning of 'GC' in "Honestly GC need to know. The ..." in your message above..)
Thanks!

[K. Tsang]

GC stands for garbage collection. So you do need to understand the concept behind it for JP exam.

[Ashish Ramteke]

Hi!!!

My preparation is going on till now. I posted now just to tell about my ongoing preparation.

I have completed reading the books- 'Head First Java'- and- 'O.C.P.J.P. 6 Study Guide'- and now I have just started to read the- 'OCP Java (SE) 6 Programmer Practice Exams'- all the books written by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates.

Now, I was looking for practicing Java programs with a focus on this OCPJP 6 exam. I started a new topic for it on the OCPJP Certification Forum, link to the post: https://coderanch.com/t/623440/java-programmer-SCJP/certification/Practicing-Java-Programs-Preparing-OCPJP
Can anyone please help me with it?

Thanks!!