Ty Oftrans

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since Dec 14, 2005
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Recent posts by Ty Oftrans

This really is interesting! I am just now trying to understand this very issue (the 'deep' differences between for and enhanced for - if there are any) and this exercise brought out something interesting that would have escaped my attention and understanding.
Thanks for the exercise and for Wise's explanation!

Ty
Hi guys!

Is there room within your study group for people preparing for the exam on Java 5 ? Or, if there isn't, is there a similar study group set up for Java 5?
Please give me a shout if the answer is yes to any of the above questions.
Cheers!

Ty
Michael,
Give BlueJ a try. It's very, very simple to use. Just download your java development kit, install it and then download BlueJ (find on Google). It's free and really simple to use. Has several advantages beside being THE SIMPLEST IDE. Does the job very quickly, you can test your methods separately, compile and run programs with a click of a button, graphically visualize how your classes connect to each other, etc, etc. I have used it in my Uni course (still using it) for two years. In my opinion, is not worth it at the moment for you to spend time learning how to use a big/complex IDE. My Java lecturer said: "Step 1: Learn Java using Notepad, TextPad or EVEN BETTER BlueJ. Step 2: Learn how to use a good, fully blown IDE. Step 3: Go earn some money".
It will take you less than 20 minutes to get the hang with BlueJ. If you need some quick learning notes on BlueJ I can send you a copy of what I had from 1st year at Uni (actually you don�t even need that - BlueJ is too straight forward to even need written instruction.

I was tempted to waist a lot of time to do things the other way around, especially because some very powerful IDEs were available for free. All my colleagues were ahead of me because they were worried to learn Java the simple way while I was worried to figure out how to do things using this amazing bits of software freely available. DON�T MAKE THIS MISTAKE! If you don�t like and have the time and nerves to learn how to do things using command line, don�t worry. You can do that later when you have more time (you definitely need to learn how to do that � it�s the basic thing you need to know). But for now just use BlueJ and concentrate on learning Java.

Ty
Bert,
I just can not believe you already replied. I love the fact that you threw in your personal opinion on how the list could make a good sequence.
So SCWCD before SCJD would be better (I understood this is your preference/opinion, but this is good enough for me).
Also the fact that you went through the list of future HF books is great. I need though to stick my finger into the AJAX and Ruby on Rail pies, because at the moment I haven't got a clue what they can be eaten with.
Really appreciate the replies, Bert! I will try to use the advice given so far and not bother you too much anymore (at least on this subject), but if you have some more stuff that you think may be useful for people like me on this subject, please do post it. I'll keep me eyes on the post and also point some of my colleagues to it.
Many, many thanks!
Ty

p.s: Sorry, I just have to say it again: LOVE HFJ and the rest of the HF series (at least what I can see into it so far). Thanks Katy & Bert + rest of your colleagues - hope one day they could lay their eyes on my words of appreciation.
18 years ago
Bert,

Many thanks for your prompt/vast reply! I think I know how busy you are, and this makes your reply even more the subject of my gratitude. I think you gave me some nice direction.

In the following few lines I will take advantage of the patience I saw you manifesting on different occasions on the forum. I will summarize the steps I think I understand would make a good logical progression in a Java programming/devel. career:

As I now understand, once I ((1)) finish going through HFJ, it is a good idea to ((2)) pick up the new 'K&B' on Java 5, in order to ((3)) pursue the SCJP certification (or could I just go for this without the 'K&B'? - probably not getting it is not a good idea if I want to do well, or is it?). Once that is done, ((4)) get the new HF OO (provide it is out on shelves), followed by ((5)) HF DP.
Now, if at this point I want to progress further, an excellent first step forward would be ((7)) the SCJD exam, prepared using ((6)) Mehran's book on it.

Two-three questions at this point, if I am not asking for too much:
1) Would HF DP be more useful once I went through SCJD, or the preparation for this second certification would make more sense once I understood Design Patterns first? [I guess one could say "for crying out loud, whether you read one first and the other one second, ... just read them!"]
2) I know the progression on Sun's site doesn't necessarily suggest this, but would a general developer's certification such as SCJD be a good (non-compulsory) prerequisite before moving toward SCBCD or SCWCD?
3) Is the order of things suggested above correct, or some corrections would be required for the 'best possible recipe' - I understood that a lot depends on personal or professional preference/requirements, but even so ... .

I hope (again) this questions will not be regarded as the epitome of dumb questions, but after struggling for months to find the right book for a beginner and following one wrong advice after the other, I just don't want to end up doing the same when it comes to following the right progression in this line of work.
Many thanks again for the time you spend answering this kind of questions!

Ty
18 years ago
Hi all!

I am one of those fortunate guys who read some of the reviews for "Head First Java", "... Design Patterns", etc. and bought the first one ("... Java"). Java makes now sense. Bert, Kathy - thank you!
I would like to ask for a bit of advice on the sequence (order) of reading these books which you think would be most logical. Of course, you can assume I start with "Head First Java" and intend to build on it by going through the entire series.
I do understand that they lead into slightly different directions, but please assume that I am prepared to cover all the ground they cover and get certified. It's just that I am not sure which would be better to pick up immediately after Head First Java. Should it be "HF Design Patterns", "HF EJB", or "HF Serverlets & JSP"? Or maybe I should jump out of the series once I finish "HF Java" (to return at a later date) and pick up "Sun Certified Java Programmer & developer Study Guide" (or something similar)? Or is there another path that someone would suggest?
If any of you is kind enough to reply, can you please give me a logical sequence of the HF series and separately a sequence of this series combined with other books (even if is based only on a logical sequence of the subjects one needs to go through).
Again, I do understand that these subjects lead into slightly different directions, but still, which subject (book) is more likely to build on the other?
I hope my questions do not sound to dumb, but even if they do, please give me some feed back.
Many thanks to all who would bother to help!
Ty

P.S. I did post this message under a couple of subheadings of the forum as I was not sure would be more appropriate for the post. Sorry if I abused your web space.
18 years ago
Hi all!

I am one of those fortunate guys who read some of the reviews for "Head First Java", "... Design Patterns", etc. and bought the first one ("... Java"). Java makes now sense. Bert, Kathy - thank you!
I would like to ask for a bit of advice on the sequence (order) of reading these books which you think would be most logical. Of course, you can assume I start with "Head First Java" and intend to build on it by going through the entire series.
I do understand that they lead into slightly different directions, but please assume that I am prepared to cover all the ground they cover and get certified. It's just that I am not sure which would be better to pick up immediately after Head First Java. Should it be "HF Design Patterns", "HF EJB", or "HF Serverlets & JSP"? Or maybe I should jump out of the series once I finish "HF Java" (to return at a later date) and pick up "Sun Certified Java Programmer & developer Study Guide" (or something similar)? Or is there another path that someone would suggest - Bert...?
If any of you is kind enough to reply, can you please give me a logical sequence of the HF series and separately a sequence of this series combined with other books (even if is based only on a logical sequence of the subjects one needs to go through).
Again, I do understand that these subjects lead into slightly different directions, but still, which subject (book) is more likely to build on the other?
I hope my questions do not sound to dumb, but even if they do, please give me some feed back.
Many thanks to all who would bother to help!
Ty

P.S. I did post this message under a couple of subheadings of the forum as I was not sure would be more appropriate for the post. Sorry if I abused your web space.
18 years ago