Java Programming learning?

[austin1743]

Hello, so my team has a bunch of people interested in learning how to program in java. Some have taken a course on it for desktop applications and understand how it relates to the robot (from me telling them how) but what we lack is a way to teach new programmers how to well put simple learn to program. Can anyone recommend a good java programming book or website, or tutorial that is closely related to the programming used here?

thanks

[Ether]

Originally Posted by austin1743

Can anyone recommend a good java programming book or website, or tutorial that is closely related to the programming used here?

http://first.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/Firs...va_for_FRC.pdf

[austin1743]

Originally Posted by Ether

http://first.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/Firs...va_for_FRC.pdf

thanks Ether, I and the my teams programmers will read through the document and learn it. thanks.

To get people interested in java, what book would you recommend for them to read that introduces java really good?

[Ether]

Originally Posted by austin1743

what book would you recommend

This is my personal favorite:

http://www.amazon.com/Java-Tutorial-.../dp/0321334205

also this website:

http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/

[cgmv123]

My AP Computer Science is using Blue Pelican Java. http://www.bluepelicanjava.com/bookDescription.htm I like it a lot.

[austin1743]

Thanks guys, I will look into them.

ether, thanks i will show these to the programming team thanks again.

cgmv123, thanks and i will look into bluej, i have heard of it but haven't actually used the IDE...

just to make sure, does it matter what ide you use to code java?

thanks everyone

[linuxboy]

Hi,
The book I learned java from that I thought was great (and that the people interested in learning programming on my team are using) is Headfirst Java (http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Jav.../dp/0596009208)

I think it does a great job of not being a boring programming book that you have to push yourself through.

In terms of IDEs, my AP CS class used BlueJ as well (which quite frankly I didn't like too well). I ended up using netbeans in class. Netbeans is also the IDE that FRC uses, while it probably has a steeper learning curve than BlueJ using it at first avoids the dreaded IDE switch that your programming guys will have to endure when the season starts. I also think that it is more full featured and will acclimate your programmers better to IDEs that are used outside the educational world that BlueJ was designed for.

Oliver

PS These books are written for Java SE, whereas the robot uses Java ME which lacks a lot of conveniences, however some things are easy to re-implement, ex Lists

[cgmv123]

Originally Posted by austin1743

cgmv123, thanks and i will look into bluej, i have heard of it but haven't actually used the IDE...

just to make sure, does it matter what ide you use to code java?

BlueJ and Blue Pelican Java are unrelated apart from the fact that the book's author recommends BlueJ as an IDE. You can use one without the other.

You can program Java using Notepad or a similar text editor if you want. The only difference is how it works. It doesn't matter what IDE you use and you don't even need an IDE.

[austin1743]

Thanks linuxboy for the recommendation of the book, i will look into it.


cgmv123, thanks, that's what i originally thought originally. I started learning java without an IDE but gave up on that when i got recommended netbeans. But i will give all IDe's a shot...

Thanks everyone for the advice on books to learn java. I am looking into all of them with intent on becoming a great programmer.

I will post here if i got anymore questions, thanks

[austin1743]

Originally Posted by cgmv123

My AP Computer Science is using Blue Pelican Java. http://www.bluepelicanjava.com/bookDescription.htm I like it a lot.

I started using the BlueJ IDE and found that i can compile the code but have yet to run any... How do you run them in bluej to see if they work?

All i get is that my syntax is correct ( of course it is) but i cant seem to get it to appear anywhere. I reread the book and couldn't find a location of how to run it...

[cgmv123]

Right-click the class in the main window and click your main method. (Usually "public static void main(String args[])" A window will pop-up where you can enter arguments. Most of the time you can just click OK.

[austin1743]

thanks

[Bacon8er]

Check out: http://www.goodsky.tk/vg/

This tutorial was put together by Exploding Bacon's programming mentor. It holds the attention of students by keeping it simple and making games, and Skyler is a talented teacher!

[gixxy]

Another good one that is helpful because it doesn't just sound like a stereo manual is Java for Dummies (I believe the current edition is 5). Amazon doesn't want to cooperate with my computer right now so I can't get a URL for you.

The oracle documentation is also helpful, but more for details on particular methods than learning with.