Java etc..

**Professor** · 03-18-2011, 06:26 PM

So I am new to java and I love it. I am currently reading some ebook called learn java in 24 hours. I am excited about programming and everything that it is conducive to. I am 17 years of age, if anyone has any tips on more ebooks or good suggestions to help me further my attempt at programming please make me aware! :)

**FlyNn** · 03-18-2011, 07:36 PM

The book I would recommend is "Head First Java".
The best way I found myself to learn new things in java is to come up with an objective and try to complete it. So lets say you want to get then hang of loops? Try to write a program that would make this output:

*
**
***
****

When you get the hang of this make the program display output like this:

*
**
***
****
*****
****
***
**
*

You can adopt this sort of way to different things.

Hope this helps.

**sunde887** · 03-18-2011, 10:35 PM

I agree with he above poster and tend to recommend head first java to a lot of new people. It's a great book and really helps you get a good understanding of a lot of topics. You can probably find it used on amazon for 15-20 dollars.

Another good book(non-java however) is how to design programs, it is freely available at htdp.org, it uses the language dr. Scheme which is a dialect of lisp. The book does a great job teaching programming, you will also get a strong understanding of recursion. The exercises are quite challenging and you can't get the answers to them, but it feels great when you solve some of the more challenging problems.

Wen you get more comfortable in java try making a calculator like you would find built in with the os, or a notepad clone or a more complex text editor. These are some of the things I have done/still doing. You can also find a great list of project ideas by googling "dream in code Marty project list".

Hope I helped.

**Eranga** · 03-19-2011, 01:25 AM

Originally Posted by Professor

So I am new to java and I love it. I am currently reading some ebook called learn java in 24 hours. I am excited about programming and everything that it is conducive to. I am 17 years of age, if anyone has any tips on more ebooks or good suggestions to help me further my attempt at programming please make me aware! :)

As a beginner, my suggestion is to move with Suns' tutorial. It explains all what you need with examples. Not only the basis stuff you can find all the other advance stuff there as well, which you can have a look at later.

Choosing the right book is quite difficult. Same book may not suitable for two people. So you've to decide the one to choose yourself. Search the Java learning and tutorial sections in the forum. You can find lots of comments from other members and may helpful to you.

**sunde887** · 03-19-2011, 01:36 AM

I do have to agree 100% with eranga, one book is absolutely not suitable for all, I liked head first java, you may not though. If you are gonna use books be prepared to buy multiples. I am currently reading 3 java books, 1 c++, 1 design patterns book, and a c# book. The more you read the better I think.

Out of the java books one of them is Thinking in Java which many people rated highly but I am not a particularly huge fan of it(it's good, but not such an easy to understand beginner book)

**Eranga** · 03-19-2011, 01:41 AM

Reading a lot is essential. Practice them is more essential.

Whatever I found on the web, specially articles that explain one or two Java features, I'll read them at the same time with the examples. But most of them are from Suns' web site. I feel that the best is always there.

**JavaHater** · 03-19-2011, 01:49 AM

Originally Posted by Professor

So I am new to java and I love it. I am currently reading some ebook called learn java in 24 hours. I am excited about programming and everything that it is conducive to. I am 17 years of age, if anyone has any tips on more ebooks or good suggestions to help me further my attempt at programming please make me aware! :)

Is this your first programming language? What are your experiences in programming ? do you have to study Java because you may be entering into some computer science school later on and Java is being taught? If you answer no to the above and is just programming for fun and knowledge, I suggest you learn Python or Ruby instead.

**Professor** · 03-22-2011, 06:43 AM

Yeah I am doing java for fun. But I am not just doing java, the way I see it is this: computers are beginning to control the contemporary world so I am taking the time to learn everything about them as possible. I am going to learn C++, java, python, php, html, etc.. along with proxies and things like that.

**FlipPoker@gmail.com** · 03-22-2011, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by Eranga

[COLOR="DarkGreen"]Reading a lot is essential. Practice them is more essential.

This is worth repeating. You can only learn so much from books. Yes, books are necessary. But you really need to play with sample programs (book examples, online tutorials, etc.) and write your own programs to learn the language.

For example, I've done a lot of reading on DSLR photography lately. I understand the basic concepts. But now I'm forcing myself to bring my camera to places and just shoot (even if I end up erasing the photos later). I look at the picture quality and settings (shutter, aperture, iso) later and see what worked and didn't work. This has really helped me learn how to take better pictures.

Good luck to you.

**sunde887** · 03-22-2011, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by Professor

Yeah I am doing java for fun. But I am not just doing java, the way I see it is this: computers are beginning to control the contemporary world so I am taking the time to learn everything about them as possible. I am going to learn C++, java, python, php, html, etc.. along with proxies and things like that.

I know how you feel, Im not learning because they are so wildly popular, it's just overtaken me, I tend to think about this stuff most of the day now, and I am still a beginner, trying to do the same as you(learning c++, c#, java atm) Have you decided on a book yet?