Starting with Java EE

[Alan Smith]

Hi all,

does anyone have an easier strategy for learning Java EE than going to Oracle's Java EE tutorial? It's so extensive that I can't wrap my head around it at the moment. A lot gets thrown at you all at once in my opinion and all the client side applications seem to be web applications. Is it possible to use just back end APIs like JPA (entities, etc.) with a simple Swing GUI app on my desktop, instead of JSF or JSP i.e. through the browser? The thing is, I realise Java EE APIs need an app server such as Glassfish; but how do I write a simple client GUI application and get it to connect with the JPA classes that are in the app server, considering I won't be hosting the client application in the server like I would with a JSF application. Dunno if this makes sense! I'll be using Netbeans by the way.

Thanks

[J. Kevin Robbins]

A couple of tips...if it's JEE you want to learn, forget about adding Swing or any other desktop GUI to the mix. Stick to the browser. Also forget about JSF for now. Others will disagree with me on this, but I feel that JSF is a complex solution looking for a simple problem to solve. Stick with JSP and servlets. Get a copy of Head First Servlets and JSP. It's THE book for learning the technology.

I agree that the Oracle tutorials are too difficult for fresh beginners. Many people recommend them but I feel that they assume a level of knowledge that most beginners just don't yet possess. They were written by very smart people with a deep knowledge of Java and sometimes people like that have trouble simplifying their thought process enough to make it painfully simple.

[Alan Smith]

J. Kevin Robbins wrote:A couple of tips...if it's JEE you want to learn, forget about adding Swing or any other desktop GUI to the mix. Stick to the browser. Also forget about JSF for now. Others will disagree with me on this, but I feel that JSF is a complex solution looking for a simple problem to solve. Stick with JSP and servlets. Get a copy of Head First Servlets and JSP. It's THE book for learning the technology.

I agree that the Oracle tutorials are too difficult for fresh beginners. Many people recommend them but I feel that they assume a level of knowledge that most beginners just don't yet possess. They were written by very smart people with a deep knowledge of Java and sometimes people like that have trouble simplifying their thought process enough to make it painfully simple.

Hi, thanks for the tip! I guess the problem is finding a way in to Java EE. It's so vast! I'll look up that book, thank you.

[J. Kevin Robbins]

Yes it is vast, and it can seem overwhelming in the beginning. That's why it's important to start with the very basics; servlets and JSP pages. Everything else (well almost everything) builds on that; JSF, Spring, and lots of other frameworks. Don't get bogged down in them yet. Learn to walk before you try running a marathon.

[Alan Smith]

J. Kevin Robbins wrote:Yes it is vast, and it can seem overwhelming in the beginning. That's why it's important to start with the very basics; servlets and JSP pages. Everything else (well almost everything) builds on that; JSF, Spring, and lots of other frameworks. Don't get bogged down in them yet. Learn to walk before you try running a marathon.

Yeah, I started a year or so ago trying to get into it but got sidetracked for other work related stuff; I jumped straight at JPA, JSF, etc. I'll start over on servlets and JSP, thanks. Excuse my ignorance, but are servlets and JSP even used anymore? Most places look for frameworks, hibernate, that kind of thing... hence the mad rush into them.

Thanks!

[J. Kevin Robbins]

Absolutely they are still used, and will be for a long time to come. The frameworks like Spring and JSF are using them, but under the covers. That's why you need to understand the technology that the frameworks are hiding from you.

[Vasilis Souvatzis]

For the last 9 months or so I've been learning and working on my JavaEE 7 thesis thus I feel your overwhelmed mind

I had a limited time to learn the platform, create my web app and write the paper so I had to "power through" the resources.

From what I've seen, the official tutorials is the best resource in my opinion. I've only studied some specific chapters of the book, but I think it has a good flow and eases the reader into more complicated stuff. You certainly don't have to read everything in there, I've skipped lots of stuff I thought weren't relevant or needed in my case.

If you definitely don't want to start with the official tutorials, I can recommend the "Java EE 7 with GlassFish 4 Application Server" by Heffelfinger. It's a lot more compact and discusses the "standard" technologies in JavaEE 7.

There's also a video series by (if I'm not mistaken) Heffelfinger again, called "Java EE Development with Netbeans" or something.

What I would 100% advise you though, is stick to ONE resource! Even if you have 5 books, 3 youtube lists and 10 websites all teaching you JavaEE 7, pick ONE resource and go with that.

[Alan Smith]

Vasilis Souvatzis wrote:For the last 9 months or so I've been learning and working on my JavaEE 7 thesis thus I feel your overwhelmed mind

I had a limited time to learn the platform, create my web app and write the paper so I had to "power through" the resources.

From what I've seen, the official tutorials is the best resource in my opinion. I've only studied some specific chapters of the book, but I think it has a good flow and eases the reader into more complicated stuff. You certainly don't have to read everything in there, I've skipped lots of stuff I thought weren't relevant or needed in my case.

If you definitely don't want to start with the official tutorials, I can recommend the "Java EE 7 with GlassFish 4 Application Server" by Heffelfinger. It's a lot more compact and discusses the "standard" technologies in JavaEE 7.

There's also a video series by (if I'm not mistaken) Heffelfinger again, called "Java EE Development with Netbeans" or something.

What I would 100% advise you though, is stick to ONE resource! Even if you have 5 books, 3 youtube lists and 10 websites all teaching you JavaEE 7, pick ONE resource and go with that.

Thanks for the response, I will have a look at that book you mentioned. Cheers.