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learning JAVA

 
Greenhorn
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can someone tell me what are the programs needed to learn JAVA..
Like the Compiler version,the server needed on running JSP,the text editor suited for it and the IDE something and so on and so forth..
im a newbie on it..

thanx
 
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Hi,


You have, J2ME (Micro Edition); This is a compact version of standard J2SE
J2SE is the Java standard edition. This is a good starting point because all of your fundamentals are learned here.
Then there is J2EE which is more for businesses and JSPs are also involved.
There are some other technologies for Java that I'm not qualified to discuss, but these 3 are the "BIG" ones on sun's website.

To learn java... Sun's course path starts at J2SE naturally. If you start you'll need the java SDK (Standard Developement Kit). This is free from java.sun.com.

There is a new edition refered to as "Tiger". This is the Java2 1.5 version.

I have only used windows note pad to write and edit code. I typically do things the hard way so I'm sure there are some nice IDE's out there that help things along.

There is a free NetBeans IDE on Sun's website for J2EE, but I've not really used this.

You should have more responces about this, and of course checkout java.sun.com...


Welcome aboard!
 
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compiler version: just download the latest from http://java.sun.com which at the moment is 5.0 (1.5.0).
IDE: none for now, use a simple text editor like VI or whatever you're comfortable with. Learn the language not the tool. I've seen way too many programmers (well, that's what they were called) who knew an IDE but when forced to use another or none at all couldn't write a line of code.
JSP: none for now. Concentrate on learning the language before learning specific libraries.
 
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I suggest you start with Sun's Java Tutorial (ignore the pictures of the books, the links on the left take you to the tutorial)
 
Greenhorn
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The J2SE 1.4 is a good place to start.
Notepad in Windows is a suitable editor though there are others.
Netbeans made learning more simple as it highlights errors before compilation though I hear its learning the easy way but its better to learn with ur errors in your face. I will suggest u try custom editors that do highliting and alignment too.
 
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Originally posted by Barry Gaunt:
I suggest you start with Sun's Java Tutorial (ignore the pictures of the books, the links on the left take you to the tutorial)



I hate that tutorial. I like sequential. I like to know that... these concepts build on these concepts. That's why we wrote the book this way.

The website (unless I REALLY missed something) is like you put terms and definitions into a shotgun and aimed at a html editor. You can drill down on just about every 3rd word and get definitions and exmaples. It was really hard for me to follow cause you kept getting deeper and deeper with little structure.

I did a really poor job of describing that... hmmmm.
 
Greenhorn
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I'm gonna go ahead and agree with the sun tutorials being a little...intense. Sometimes its hard for coding gods to talk to us little people


search around on google for a good entry level tutorial. Another good source (my favorite actually) is to go to your local library and snag a few java books. their used, maybe a little outdated, but they are free. Then you can save up that 50 bucks to get the one you like.

as for environments. I'm a text editor guy myself (ide's are too complicated for me) i use a spiffy lil program called edit plus. its free off download.com. it colors some of the basic function in java and can be used for other languages (php, html, pearl?) then the compiler is free as mentioned from sun. Thats really all you need.

good luck
 
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I've been programming for years, and I too prefer Edit Plus. You can get it at www.editplus.com. It gives you linkable tools, syntax highlighting, lots of helpful stuff without trying to write your code for you like some IDEs.

I actually like the Sun tutorials and keep them linked as one of my tools. I also have a small Java library, but really only one good book on the basics is all you need to get started. Sun also offers free downloadable books like The Java Programming Language, which is written by the team that developed Java, and offers some of the cleanest explanations of how Java works, but it doesn't have tons of examples for a pure beginner at both programming and at Java.

The library suggestion is good, that is if your library has a good selection of Java books. I live in a mid-sized city (Sacramento) and the Java collection is not very good. Amazon.com has lots of Java books for sale used and cheap, and you can read customer reviews before you buy. If you buy a book that's a few years old, you may not get the latest features in it, but the fundamentals of the language have not changed very much, so you'll still be able to learn.

And the best teacher is... practice! No matter which tutorial you try, you won't get very far unless you type the code (I'm against simply loading the code someone else typed, compiling it an running it as is.), compile it, break it, fix it, modify it, then do it all again. That is how you learn the true way a programming language behaves.

Good luck! And welcome to Java...
 
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