• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
programming forums Java Mobile Certification Databases Caching Books Engineering Micro Controllers OS Languages Paradigms IDEs Build Tools Frameworks Application Servers Open Source This Site Careers Other Pie Elite all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
Marshals:
  • Campbell Ritchie
  • Jeanne Boyarsky
  • Ron McLeod
  • Paul Clapham
  • Liutauras Vilda
Sheriffs:
  • paul wheaton
  • Rob Spoor
  • Devaka Cooray
Saloon Keepers:
  • Stephan van Hulst
  • Tim Holloway
  • Carey Brown
  • Frits Walraven
  • Tim Moores
Bartenders:
  • Mikalai Zaikin

Java YouTube Tutorials

 
Greenhorn
Posts: 17
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hi, I'm in a Java developers boot camp and I'm coming in with zero programming experience. Are there any tutorials on YouTube that are particularly suited to total newbies? I just ended week two of what is supposed to be a fourteen - twenty week program and to say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I have Head First Java and a couple other books and those are helping a lot, but I can use anything extra to get me through this. Thanks again - I've already learned a lot just reading through threads, including the difference between methods and constructors, which had completely baffled me!

Heidi
 
Marshal
Posts: 79177
377
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Welcome to the Ranch

Why have you not asked the people on the boot camp what the difference between constructors and methods is? They are being paid to teach you that sort of thing. Similarly, if you are overwhelmed, ask the people being paid to teach you.
 
Bartender
Posts: 10780
71
Hibernate Eclipse IDE Ubuntu
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator

Heidi Atwood wrote:Hi, I'm in a Java developers boot camp and I'm coming in with zero programming experience. Are there any tutorials on YouTube that are particularly suited to total newbies?


If there are, I'm afraid I don't know of one. The best "visual aid" I know of is Notepad and a command window.

I just ended week two of what is supposed to be a fourteen - twenty week program and to say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I have Head First Java and a couple other books and those are helping a lot, but I can use anything extra to get me through this. Thanks again - I've already learned a lot just reading through threads, including the difference between methods and constructors, which had completely baffled me!


Well, there are several tutorials on the Net, the granddaddy of all of which is this one.

Secondly: don't get discouraged. Programming is not simple, so unless your bootcamp tutors are complete duffuses, nobody's going to expect you to 'get it' straight away. This article is a great introduction to what you can expect, and contains lots of useful tips. I should add that most of the regular 'helpers' on this site have been programming for years.

For now, here's a few tips that may help you:
  • Computer languages, like computers themselves, are stupid: They do exactly what you tell them to; so make absolutely sure you know what you're trying to do before you write a line of code. Often that will mean using a lot of pencil and paper before you launch into Java code.
    Remember: you will never solve a problem in Java unless you can describe the solution in English.
  • Java is case-sensitive. That means that long is NOT the same as Long, and a simple mistake like that can be significant. One aid is to learn the naming conventions thoroughly, because after a while your brain will often be able to pick out stuff that "doesn't look right". That said, most syntax errors get picked by the compiler, but not all; so try not to use it as a crutch. Check your code carefully before running it, and read ALL compiler messages thoroughly.
    It should be added that compilers are sometimes stupid as well, so the same basic error (such as misnaming a field, or missing out a '}' or a ';') can cause several error messages to appear.
  • When you're writing a program, especially at this stage, don't write more than a few lines of code at a time without compiling. It's tedious, but it'll stop you from having to plough through a maze of compiler errors.
  • Lastly: ENJOY IT. Like most things in life, the best programmers really like what they do. So think of something you'd like to do and try writing a program to do it once you're past the basics - but start SMALL (a simple console game perhaps); you aren't going to be creating chat rooms or 3D video games for quite a while yet.

  • HIH

    Winston
     
    Bartender
    Posts: 1952
    7
    Eclipse IDE Java
    • Likes 1
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    I'm sure there are programming tutorials on Youtube, but this is the one I'm sure I've seen mentioned somewhere before. Don't know about the quality of it, though.
     
    Ranch Hand
    Posts: 136
    1
    Netscape Opera Ubuntu
    • Likes 1
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    This looks good. User thenewboston has made 87 tutorial videos on Java Programming and someone has put them all in a playlist:

    http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL74C46F19A47C6504
     
    Heidi Atwood
    Greenhorn
    Posts: 17
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator
    Thanks so much everyone! And to be honest, there are so many things that I haven't quite got a handle on I can't ask them about every single one so I'm trying to learn as much as I can on my own. I'm also trying to get over feeling stupid for not knowing things like that after two weeks, since it's such a basic piece! Your suggestions, Winston, were gold, and I'm going to follow them like the Ten Commandments, only better And yes, they (the instructors) know how complicated it is, I am impatient with myself and unrealistic and need to get over it. Thank you again so much and believe me I will be spending a lot of time here going forward!

    Heidi
     
    Ranch Hand
    Posts: 86
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator

    Heidi Atwood wrote:Thanks so much everyone!


    I remember a pro guitarist telling me about his horrible Guitar Institute Boot Camp that lasted a couple of months, live in, ten hours a day theory cramming and playing time, seven days a week. He said it was trauma on the mind as it was impossible to absorb everything. The information came too fast for normal absorption. But he swore by the experience later, saying that his mind took in much more than he realized at that time. A few months would go by and he'd remember something that he had no daily memory of learning.

    Educators will tell you that the best way to learn is through purposeful repetition. It's hard to repeat much during a bootcamp. I don't mean repeat once or twice - I mean repeat as many times as you need to have it "sink in". Sometimes that can take quite a few repetitions as you learn incrementally through each repetition. Finally you get it, the light goes on, and you're done forever with that.

    I'd rather play with while loops for a week and discover all there is to know about them than to play for a few hours, say "I now know while loops" and rush on to the next item.


     
    Heidi Atwood
    Greenhorn
    Posts: 17
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator

    Paul Witten wrote:

    Heidi Atwood wrote:Thanks so much everyone!


    I remember a pro guitarist telling me about his horrible Guitar Institute Boot Camp that lasted a couple of months, live in, ten hours a day theory cramming and playing time, seven days a week. He said it was trauma on the mind as it was impossible to absorb everything. The information came too fast for normal absorption. But he swore by the experience later, saying that his mind took in much more than he realized at that time. A few months would go by and he'd remember something that he had no daily memory of learning.

    Educators will tell you that the best way to learn is through purposeful repetition. It's hard to repeat much during a bootcamp. I don't mean repeat once or twice - I mean repeat as many times as you need to have it "sink in". Sometimes that can take quite a few repetitions as you learn incrementally through each repetition. Finally you get it, the light goes on, and you're done forever with that.

    I'd rather play with while loops for a week and discover all there is to know about them than to play for a few hours, say "I now know while loops" and rush on to the next item.



    I agree, but unfortunately the boot camp is my way to a job, something I've been looking for since February... :-( So I'm trying to gain as much foundation as I can throughout the process.

    Heidi
     
    Ranch Hand
    Posts: 32
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator

    Heidi Atwood wrote:Hi, I'm in a Java developers boot camp and I'm coming in with zero programming experience. Are there any tutorials on YouTube that are particularly suited to total newbies? I just ended week two of what is supposed to be a fourteen - twenty week program and to say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I have Head First Java and a couple other books and those are helping a lot, but I can use anything extra to get me through this. Thanks again - I've already learned a lot just reading through threads, including the difference between methods and constructors, which had completely baffled me!

    Heidi



    Speaking as one beginner to another, I have found the quality of many YouTube videos to be very poor. I subscribed to www.lynda.com and it is worth every penny. The instructors have obviously rehearsed the carefully written scripts so there are no "ers", "ums" or errors. They move along at a cracking pace, but that's ok because you can replay them over and over. (I have no connection with lynda.com except as a satisfied customer)
     
    Heidi Atwood
    Greenhorn
    Posts: 17
    • Mark post as helpful
    • send pies
      Number of slices to send:
      Optional 'thank-you' note:
    • Quote
    • Report post to moderator

    Ed Dablin wrote:

    Heidi Atwood wrote:Hi, I'm in a Java developers boot camp and I'm coming in with zero programming experience. Are there any tutorials on YouTube that are particularly suited to total newbies? I just ended week two of what is supposed to be a fourteen - twenty week program and to say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement. I have Head First Java and a couple other books and those are helping a lot, but I can use anything extra to get me through this. Thanks again - I've already learned a lot just reading through threads, including the difference between methods and constructors, which had completely baffled me!

    Heidi



    Speaking as one beginner to another, I have found the quality of many YouTube videos to be very poor. I subscribed to www.lynda.com and it is worth every penny. The instructors have obviously rehearsed the carefully written scripts so there are no "ers", "ums" or errors. They move along at a cracking pace, but that's ok because you can replay them over and over. (I have no connection with lynda.com except as a satisfied customer)



    Good to know - I'll definitely check it out. Thanks for the info!

    Heidi
     
    With a little knowledge, a cast iron skillet is non-stick and lasts a lifetime.
    reply
      Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
    • New Topic