Stuck on Programming

[tabchas]

Hey Guys,

I have been learning Java for over two months now and learned it by using the Deitel book and Head First Java. However, I seem to be stuck now and dont know what to do. I have built 4-5 programs but dont know what else to do. I built tic-tac-toe, an alarm clock, a palindrome program, and two other programs.

What should I do? I am really confused...

Thanks.

[Fubarable]

Hmmm, possiblities

• Answer questions in the forum
• Create a small app for yourself or a family member that makes your/their life easier.
• Check out Project Euler
• Consider joining an active project at SourceForge. On second thought, you may be a still a little green for this.
• Take an online class or keep plugging through your books or the next book to learn more about a part of Java that is new to you, possibly network programming, database programming, gui programming,...

[atomant]

Martyr2'S Mega Project Ideas List!

Stanford School of Engineering - CS106A Class with Lectures and Assignments All Online

[sunde887]

Hey Tabchas,

While you may feel like you have learned a good amount, there is still an incredible amount of information out there. Almost an overwhelming amount, I am a little further along than you, but not much, and would like to share some thoughts.

Fubar suggested getting involved with some open source projects, atm, it may be a bit ahead of what you are ready for, however; you could consider reading the source code and trying to understand it. I'd imagine the largest program you have done is at most a dozen files, and probably not even that much. It is something crazy to see an open source project, the program is generally split into a huge amount of files and may be helpful to get used to seeing what larger projects are like.

You can also consider some college courses, there you will have a teacher assigning you stuff which will force you to practice, and the more advanced classes may be incredibly helpful.

There are also lot's of advanced books you can start reading, effective java, and concurrency in practice, to name a couple. You can also read a book on generics and some of the more challenging topics.

Don't necessarily limit yourself to just java, keep practicing reading java but also consider other books as well. A few examples I can give are: Head first design patterns, accelerated c++, c++ without fear, c++ primer, practical c++ programming, how to design programs, sicp, and many more. Like said, you may not want to limit what you are learning, learning multiple languages could be beneficial to you.

Also, get involved here. You will see lots of similar questions and some unique questions as well. The similar questions will help you re enforce the basics/intermediate. The more advanced questions will allow you to think.