value for the click

[Thomas Whalen]

I've been perusing the front page of javaranch.com, and don't quite see what javaranch.com has to offer. It seems that, other than this huge forum that I love reading through, and the book reviews, that there really isn't much for the visitor? Maybe that is just through the eyes of a newbie
I'd like to propose that www.javaranch.com have a programming contest for newbies, and perhaps get into offering tutorials on writing games with Java. I haven't found much in the way of game-writing tutorials with Java.
Thanks!

[Thomas Paul]

You have the newsletters which feature some great articles. There is the Cattle Drive (great for newbies.)
As far as tutorials, none of us are game programmers and few of us have the time to write tutorials.

[Gregg Bolinger]

These forums are what Javaranch offers it's visitors. The newsletters are invaluable, the Cattle Drive is very good for "newbies", and everyone here is working for free.
If you have questions regarding game programming, find a forum and ask away.
If you want to get into programming contests, I propose you go here: TopCoder.com
It is a very good site. No need for Javaranch to try and compete with that.
[ January 28, 2003: Message edited by: Gregg Bolinger ]

[Marilyn de Queiroz]

Originally posted by Thomas Whalen:
I've been perusing the front page of javaranch.com, and don't quite see what javaranch.com has to offer. It seems that, other than this huge forum that I love reading through, and the book reviews, that there really isn't much for the visitor? Maybe that is just through the eyes of a newbie

I suppose it depends on what that particular newbie is looking for. Rules Roundup helps prepare people for certification. The Cattle Drive gives you feedback on the code you write (and how to improve it). The Newsletter contains many short articles about a variety of (mostly) Java things, as do the Campfire Stories. The Code Barn gives you sample code. Gramps gives you links to other sites that a Java programmer might be interested in. Granny gives you some pithy, useful comments to apply in your everyday programming. The Bunkhouse (which is loosely connected to the Book Reviews forum) you've already discovered.

However, those pages are fairly static. Once you've seen them, they don't change much. The threads in the forums, on the other hand, change frequently. Perhaps that's why you like them.

I'd like to propose that www.javaranch.com have a programming contest for newbies, and perhaps get into offering tutorials on writing games with Java. I haven't found much in the way of game-writing tutorials with Java.

Are you offering to write those tutorials, Thomas W.? If you write them in the Campfire Story format, we might include them.

[Thomas Whalen]

Thanks for the replies
I tried my best to convince everyone that I'm a newbie, so no, writing a tutorial on writing games using Java is not something I can do at the moment. If I could, I would be glad to do it. If no one here is programming games, how might I find a forum here for game programming? I haven't seen one, the last time I checked.
Marilyn: I think I'll check out the Cattle Drive.
www.topcoder.com is not for newbies, IMO. I've looked at their example problems at the lowest level (worth the fewest points), and none of them I had the experience in Java to program. That, or my college isn't giving us adequate exposure to programming in the classes.