Hello, Ladies and Gents!

I come to you tonight to ask a question. Where is a good place to learn Java? keep in mind that i am a TOTAL novice, as in the only programing i have done is on the calculator in BASIC and that is IT, even this programming is pretty basic stuff.

so, where is a good site/set of videos/tutorials that would teach me how to do basic things in java, i was thinking of trying to make very basic animations and games, just to get started... anyone have an ideas

I picked it up by reading "Java in a Nutshell" and "Java Foundation classes in a nutshell". The second one talks about windowing and graphics and files, etc. I had read MOST of both books and then still had to try a lot of things before I got it all down. Java is simple enough, but getting an application with graphics and buttons etc. takes a bit to figure out; but you can do it

Make sure you have the JDK (java.sun.com) and a good IDE (Netbeans is the best, but JCreator is good also)

... though it wouldn't be a bad idea to learn my OPIA language when it's ready

I would suggest these: http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/index.html

these books are generally good, from what I hear

Java book series

Now, there are many places to learn Java, though I myself am currently taking Java courses at my school. Now, once you have the bare basics down, I would highly recommend

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4H4PP35ZQs&feature=list_related&playnext=1&list=SP0FB6A62E3D328423

for the advanced bits. This is a currently ONGOING video series on a guy making a first person shooter from scratch.

It's excellent, I'm following it now! But you do need to know some of the basics first. It's a great series, and the first couple of videos will teach you how to use Eclipse. My only complaint is that since he's making a first person shooter, you won't go over Swing concepts, text or data IO, or networking at all.

Or, hell, I've got time. I could fucking teach Java on these forums if there is enough interest. I've got the time and I'd love to feel helpful for this sort of thing. I'll run it by Kerm and if there's a decent amount of interest, even if it's just a handful of people, I'll actually do it.

Plus, a lot of people in the community are already pretty good at Java. I got loads of help over some of the more complicated bits of threads last semester.

I love teaching Java. I've done tutoring for that ... So I'll keep my eyes on this and contribute where I can.

If you're just starting out with Java, focus more on the console instead of trying to pursue more advanced things like graphics. From there, you can learn about the different data structures that Java has, loops, and you can learn about OO concepts. After you've done that, then you can try to use graphics, but until then try to stay away from it as you'll likely not be able to understand it.

I don't think I can agree more with that, Souvik. *All* graphical and GUI frameworks usable in Java will require a good knowledge about how the language works in order to use them. Things to know before starting: Language Basics and Datatypes, methods, Object Oriented programming, Inheritance, String operations, Single/Multi-dimensional arrays, Interfaces, and a deep knowledge of a lot of the built-in Java Standard Library, and its classes/methods.

I like Head First Java. They have a whole line of books, and the style is really intuitive. Check your library for it, though, as it's pretty expensive to buy. Also check out irc://freenode.net/##java



Hmm... they're pretty good for when you have most of the language down, and you want to learn a specific tool to use, (Like how to use pipes, for instance), but they're not so good for learning the language from scratch.

awesome, thanks for the help guys! i hope to start learning ASAP!

also i would take a programming class at our school, but there is none where i go

Actually, I'd disagree with the "no games" statement, depending on where you decide to cut off "knowing enough of the language". I was able to, pretty quickly, get a sprite on the screen and moving around, in Java, and I think that really helped me. I had also added in bullets and such (Those who know what I'm talking about: Raven). For my friend, he learned the basics of the syntax, and then started working on a GUI project that helps with a game we are writing (A map editor), and he learned a lot about Java that way (Like, that it sucks). I agree, of course, that you should start learning from the console, but I think it is beneficial to do graphics, even at such an early relationship with the language. Just my $0.02

I think learning an OOP language comes first. Even if you learned C++ first, then you could dive into GUI etc. and do alright; so long as you picked up the differences/intricacies along the way. But for you, yeah just learn the basics first.

To add to what Ashbad said, one of the next things to learn after the basics would be Event handlers ("Listeners" etc.) and when/how to use a Graphics object in general. I did everything as a console program to begin with, and then spent a long time figuring out all the GUI and events etc., and that was way fun stuff

OH! There is one technique that will be awesome down the road: packaging Java programs/files into an executable jar file. I have NEVER used a tool to do it, because you can just do it by hand with a zip file (I can show you). If need be, you can compile and run java right from the command line

I taught a beginner and advanced class in Java, so I too am happy to help. I have a full set of my slides from 24 or so class sessions and my homework assignments and answers and quizzes with answers.