I am an experienced systems programmer, currently not employed in my field. No jobs for mainframe/COBOL programmers anymore. I've taken a course in Java programming and taught C++ in a private college before. I have the essentials of Java down fairly well (I think), it's just the nitty-gritty, GUI, objected-oriented stuff that throws me for a loop sometimes.
I use the visual IDE because I like the convenience of the drag/drop assembly of the GUI portion of Java. Don't have to full around with x-y coordinates, size of components, positioning, etc., and allows me to concentrate on the logic. Just double-click on a component, and an event object is generated, and I just fill in the rest of the logic. It also guards against typos, which I am famous for. IDE's are project oriented, which is nice when you have several classes involved.
I am weak and lazy, I must admit, but RAD is the way to go for me!
Now I must digress.
I found that if you right-clicked on the the name of the component in the component browser, you can change the actual name. Ahhh, sheeezzz ...
Thanks all, for your support!
[ September 24, 2003: Message edited by: Steve Schowiak ]