YJ Lee

Hi

I am joining a team whose main development language is Java in two weeks.
I've been doing a software development in embedded system using C/C++ (more of C programmer than C++ programmer) for last 10 years.
But, I've never done Java development before.
My new team know that I don't have Java experience but they are expecting me to get up to speed fast after I get on board.

Before I join a team, I want to get an early start and prepare myself for the transition by getting up to speed on Java as much as possible.
It seems like "Java in a nutshell" might be a good fit for my situation.
What would be the best way to use "Java in a nutshell" book to achieve what I need? (that is, learning and acquiring enough Java skill to get my feet wet..)

I did read the often mentioned "Head First Java" more than 10 years ago and one other Java books (Thinking in Java) right after Head First Java.
However, that was long time ago and I didn't do anything related to Java after that so I don't recall much ...

Thanks!  

Daniela,

Thanks for the great answer!
Yes, that would be hard to learn two things at once.
I do have OOP experience (C++)  but I remember that it was very hard to get OOP concept at first when I was moving from C to C++.
Hence, I can see how hard to learn new language based on new programming paradigm.

Thanks!
Young

Hi

I've been thinking about learning a new language for some time and I am currently leaning toward to scala.
However, I have gotten an impression that scala is very hard to learn.
What makes people perceive scalar is hard to learn to professional developer who already have 2 -3 languages under their belt?
And how does your book address this issue?

Thanks!
Young

Krystian Kowalski wrote:Hello and welcome to the ranch !

I am really new to ios - started with some tutorials and learning objective c. Is it good choice, or i should switch to swift instead? What do you think about swift?
I see that your book has objective c examples

I am also a new to ios. I had a similar question since apple announced the swift one weeks after I got my hands on iOS.
I decided to stay on Objective-C. My rational was that 1) There are tons of objective-C code that are already written and someone has to maintain it. 2)It will take some time for swift to be the mainstream iOS development language 3) There were tons of more quality educational resources in objective-C than swift.

Things have changed so much since then. So some of my points are not much valid anymore or not as convincing as when I made my mind but I believe they still have some merits now. Of course, YMMV so you need to consider everything based on your situation.... But, whatever the path you choose to take, good luck with your journey on iOS!

Oliver Drobnik wrote:I like your questions!

for 90% of use cases that I can think of the built-in barcode scanning functionality (via camera) is working just as well as a laser-based scanner would. For a sales scenario you would probably optimize the UI to keep scanning and deliver all barcodes as they are detected. AVFoundation is very fast.

For printing you would probably use a thermo-based printer because those are the cheapest for printing barcode stickers. All it needs to have is AirPrint support, so that you can print from iOS devices. I myself use a Brother QL-710W WiFi label printer. There is only one caveat: you need to thin the lines for thermo printers to combat thermal bleeding, as explained in this blog post of mine: http://www.cocoanetics.com/2014/03/printing-to-thermo-labels/

cheers

Oliver Drobnik

Cocoanetics

Oliver, thanks for the answers!

I went to your blog and read your post regarding the printing bar code. It has very good info for bar code novice person like me.
I am thinking about incorporating the bar code scanning capability in my app that I am developing for small non-profit organization, hence, above questions.

Thanks again for your answer! I will definitely consult your book for any help that I need for my small project.

I am not very familiar with bar code handling so forgive me if this question is trivial one.

First, is there any difference (in terms of performance) between iphone camera and special (portable) scanner HW?
For example, is it (reasonably) acceptable to use phone camera as scanning device in store for sales transaction?

Second, what is the recommended HW for printing the bar code? Will any of regular printer be perfectly fine for printing bar code?

Thanks!

I think the latest news that I can find in javaranch were somewhere around May if I remember correctly. Now, it's may and amazon still say it is not available and does not put any expecting date. Can anyone please prorvide the latest updates on the status on this book?

As soon as I find out about HF series is planing for this book, I was really looking forward to see this book in bookstore. HFJ was really good book (I think it is the one of two best computer books that I've read in last 2 years, the other being a Design Pattern Explained)

Anyway, if anyone can share some information on the current status of this book, I'll be really appreciated.

Thanks!
YJ

Thanks for all the feebacks! I will definitely try all of these. I guess using the college textbook can be a good idea.

For me, I think both small exercise code snippet and writing actual program will work for me.

When I took some math class or physics class in college, I rember that all those textbook have full of small and easy examples and more invloved and hard problems. Those books always explained concept first and show some exmple questions (which usually has step by step kind of explanation) that shows how to apply the concept. Those were followed by small number of related example questions (usually no solution for these questions). At the end of the chapter, there is more involved problems. To me, that format worked pretty well. I am sometime wondering why a lot of programming language books doesn't follow that format.

Anyway, I will try all of your advice and see how it goes.
Thanks all!
YJ

I've read some of FAQs and advice on how to prepare for SCJP. One of the frequent potint was to get a lot of coding experience. And I think this is the most lacking part of my current preparation. Where and how can I get coding experience? I've seen a lot of guide and information about mock exams (which I think very important for exam preparation) but didn't see much much on coding/programming exercise.

I guess it maybe because many people who are preparing this exam are already good coders/developers for Java or some other programming languages.

Unfortunately, I am not one of those experience people so I really think I need practice on that. The main goal for me to study for exam is to actually learn more about Java and become better developer (Not that I believe that getting a piece of paper makes you good developer but I believe the process of studying for exam definitely help you).

My favorite Java book (Head First Java) is lacking on this area IMHO. (That is my only regreat on that book. Maybe, it's because it's Head First not Hands On )

Anyway, is there any sites or book that I can get some practice on coding? If those site or book can give you answer, hint, gudide on exercise, that would be a real plus since I won't get too much help from anyone when I stuck on some part of exercise.

Thanks!
YJ

Thanks for answer!

I am already following the advice and moving on to next one.

Thanks!
YJ

Thanks for answer!

I am already following the advice and moving on to next one.

Thanks!
YJ

I am preparing for 1.5 SCJP, too.

1)It's the latest so should be greatest.
2)Since I am a Java newbee, it will take a lot of time to be ready to take the exam. If I am study for 1.4 now, I'm afraid that it might be obsolete by the time I am ready for that exam finally.

YJ

Hi, everyone!

My first posting in here. I recently began to study for SCJP 1.5 and got K&B study guide for 1.5. I just finished the first chapter and took the end of chapter question. That was really tough one, tougher than what I thought. I got something around 60%(i.e. a little more than half). This tells me that I am not really master the material in this chapter successfully.

So, now, my question is whether I should move on to the next chapter or go back to first chapter and study again.

And, if suggestion is to review more, how should I know whether I know all the stuff in first chapter after the review? I mean, the end of chapther questions were pretty good but I already know the answer at this point.

Let me tell you a little bit of my java background.

I recently started to study java so I'm a newbee. My programming background is mostly C. I know some C++, too but I wasn't really decent C++ programmer and I haven't used that beast for long long time. I tried to study for java sometime ago but didn't quite succeded and gave up. Then, I recently found this wonderful book called, "Head First Java".
For me, that changed the whole thing so I'm back in track, now.

Anyway, please give me some suggestion on how should I proceed from this point. I've seen some people encourage to use two study guide for SCJP preparation and I'm now thinking one of the reasons for that might have to do with the situation that I am facing now.

Thanks!
YJ