help formulating questions to ask experienced devs.

[Alex Drummond]

I'm attending a developer mentoring event and I'm really new to Java and programming and am teaching myself. What would be some good questions to ask?

[fred rosenberger]

that all depends on what level you are, and what questions you have. Are you interested in what a career path is like? In solving a specific problem?

[J. Kevin Robbins]

As fred says (he likes it lowercase), it really depends on your current level of understanding. I would suggest that you make sure you understand the principles of polymorphism, inheritance, encapsulation, and composition. If you don't understand those, that would be a good place to start.

Click on this polymorphism link for a good start.

[Alex Drummond]

Thanks guys! Great advice I should have worded my question better, I'm going to ask questions about career path/progression and questions concerning self learning. In terms of the industry I don't even know the options out there, I'm that new to this. So I feel sheepish because my questions are so broad and basic.

[J. Kevin Robbins]

In terms of job opportunities, most are going to be web back-end (server side) development. There is very little work being done in the development of desktop applications. However, don't limit yourself to server side development if you want the most opportunities. Make sure you learn the front end stuff; HTML, CSS, and Javascript (a completely different language from Java). There is also Android development, but I'm not involved in that so I can't really say what the demand is. Check the job listings for the area where you'll be searching and see what skills are in demand.

As for self learning, there are enough books and online tutorials to keep you busy for years. If you are asking which is the "best" system for self learning, that depends on your individual learning style. Myself, I prefer books and online text tutorials over videos, but that's just me.