some questions about java

[gautam adani]

hello everyone..

i am new to the forums and i am interested in creating a small application for personal use, but i have no programming experience.i have a couple of questions about java and it would be extremely helpful if experienced people can guide me on the right direction.

can i create my own custom application(with GUI) using java? what are the programming languages/technologies i need to learn to be able to do this? i want to create a small application for win7.

what are some of the other stuff i should be learning if my aim is to create software/apps using java? i read in one blog about design patterns, Big O etc that self-taught programmers miss to learn...

what mathematics knowledge do you recommend for creating apps?

please recommend some programming/computer books for beginner programmers. (books like code by charles petzold)

thanks

[Mansukhdeep Thind]

Welcome to the Java Mecca Wood Peker , if that is what people call you, although I am sure that would change in some time as soon as one of the mods sees that.

can i create my own custom application(with GUI) using java? what are the programming languages/technologies i need to learn to be able to do this? i want to create a small application for win7.

Yes, why not. Your creativity is the limit. There are a set of APIs provided by the AWT, SWING and Java FX frameworks to build GUIs in Java. But I believe java's strength lies on the server side rather than developing thick clients.

what are some of the other stuff i should be learning if my aim is to create software/apps using java? i read in one blog about design patterns, Big O etc that self-taught programmers miss to learn...

Design patterns are basically well researched and thought of predefined solutions to a generic problem that recurs again and again in developing software applications. BIG O notion is something that Jeff will be able to explain to you better. It has something to do with how efficient your logic is when dealing with a large number of iterations to perform some functionality. More on the side of mathematics rather than a coding language related thing. Read this.



I would recommend though that first you get your basics clear. Get your hands on a book called Head First Java. Spend time understanding the fundamentals. Write some small test programs and try running them on the command prompt. Get your hands dirty. Come back with doubts. Will be there to guide. And yes, go step by step.

[gautam adani]

hello thanks for welcoming me i want to be a happy anonymous woodpecker but mods wont allow me to be that!

Yes, why not. Your creativity is the limit. There are a set of APIs provided by the AWT, SWING and Java FX frameworks to build GUIs in Java. But I believe java's strength lies on the server side rather than developing thick clients

i did some searches on google as lots of those words are alien to me..i hope i can find good resources to learn about them .

I will get a head first java book as soon as possible..wow we can also run java on command prompt??? thats awesome..

ohh ok...but are there people who use java to create offline apps? what is the programming languages that is best for creating software for pc..?

also 1 more question mansukhdeep sir(can i call you sir ) how long does it usually take for a beginner to gain enough expertise before he can create an app...?

[Campbell Ritchie]

Beginners should be creating apps a few hours after starting. Small apps, obviously.

[Niraj Jha]

Read j2se APIs mainly applet, swing and multithreading.It will help you in making apps.

[Jeff Verdegan]

Niraj Jha wrote:Read j2se APIs mainly applet, swing and multithreading.It will help you in making apps.

Those are not good places to start. It's better to start with simple text-based console apps, and only move on to GUIs and multithreading after getting a solid foundation in the basics of the language and core API, along with compiling, running, and debugging. And applets are just icky.

[Salman Mushtaq]

Read Dietel Series on java

[Amit Ghorpade]

Mansukhdeep Thind wrote: But I believe java's strength lies on the server side rather than developing thick clients.

If it is a small desktop application, it is not going to be client-server. Just a standalone app.

gautam adani wrote:what are some of the other stuff i should be learning if my aim is to create software/apps using java? i read in one blog about design patterns, Big O etc that self-taught programmers miss to learn...

IMO, eating on frameworks, GUI, design patterns, Big O, design principles (its different than design pattern),etc. at the same time is not a good idea at all.
Traditionally programming starts with the program to print "Hello world!" to the console. I think more or less everyone including top-notch programmers have started in this manner.
To make a difference you can print hello followed by your name, adds fun ;-).

Things will start gaining shape when you keep practicing with more programs with increasing complexity. Gradually you will be writing a program which stuffs in most of the fancy things listed above even without you knowing it .

[Mack Wilmot]

gautam adani wrote:can i create my own custom application(with GUI) using java? what are the programming languages/technologies i need to learn to be able to do this? i want to create a small application for win7.

You need to understand events, event listeners, threads, and the AWT event queue for Swing GUI. Knowing how assembly language works is good to know even if you don't use it.

gautam adani wrote:what are some of the other stuff i should be learning if my aim is to create software/apps using java? i read in one blog about design patterns, Big O etc that self-taught programmers miss to learn...

In order: algorithms (Big O is part of this discipline), object oriented programming, data structures, design patterns (Design patterns are nice to know i guess, but you don't have to know them to program.)

gautam adani wrote:what mathematics knowledge do you recommend for creating apps?

At least algebra, trigonometry and discrete mathematics.

gautam adani wrote:please recommend some programming/computer books for beginner programmers. (books like code by charles petzold)

Many Java books are good, but most of them are lacking if you really want to understand Generics. "Java Generics and Collections" by Naftalin & Wadler covers them well, but it is not an easy read.

There are several discrete mathematics books: "Concrete Mathematics" (Knuth), and books by Rosen and Grimaldi will cover just about everything.

Clifford Shaffer's "Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java" is free to download from his website: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/

[gautam adani]

hello all...sorry for not being able to come online yesterday..

You need to understand events, event listeners, threads, and the AWT event queue for Swing GUI. Knowing how assembly language works is good to know even if you don't use it. In order: algorithms (Big O is part of this discipline), object oriented programming, data structures, design patterns (Design patterns are nice to know i guess, but you don't have to know them to program.) At least algebra, trigonometry and discrete mathematics. any Java books are good, but most of them are lacking if you really want to understand Generics. "Java Generics and Collections" by Naftalin & Wadler covers them well, but it is not an easy read.

There are several discrete mathematics books: "Concrete Mathematics" (Knuth), and books by Rosen and Grimaldi will cover just about everything.

Clifford Shaffer's "Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in Java" is free to download from his website: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~shaffer/Book/

Thank youu soo much for all the detailed information sir..I think i have a good idea now on how and where to start...Thanks for the detailed and very informative answer to all my questions...

IMO, eating on frameworks, GUI, design patterns, Big O, design principles (its different than design pattern),etc. at the same time is not a good idea at all.
Traditionally programming starts with the program to print "Hello world!" to the console. I think more or less everyone including top-notch programmers have started in this manner.
To make a difference you can print hello followed by your name, adds fun ;-).

Things will start gaining shape when you keep practicing with more programs with increasing complexity. Gradually you will be writing a program which stuffs in most of the fancy things listed above even without you knowing it

Hi thanks for your encouragement.. its nice to know all great programmers start with the hello world program :-) I hope i too can be writing great programs with fancy things with time and practice..

thanks to everyone who have answered..