Re: [gentoo-java] Startup advice

[Joshua Nichols <nichoj@gentoo.org>]

Stuart Howard wrote:
> As you might expect I am running on information overload here ;)
>
> I have emerged well all the IDE and editors suggested [got to love
> portage] and will make the choices when I am beyond hello world time,
> I am reading  the lecture prepared by Ted lovley work by the way
> starts at my level :]
>
> Anyway my supplemental request is book choice and a mailing list to
> watch for entry/mid level discussions?
> [gentoo-user has taught me more about linux/gentoo than any of the
> books I have read]
>
>   
> I see that from Amazon "The Java Tutorial: A Short Course on the
> Basics (Java S.)" is due for a new release at the end of this month
> and seems a likly choice, however there are more books available than
> you can shake a stick at to be honest and a tip would be nice.
>
>   
"Effective Java" by Joshua Blochs is considered the gospel around my 
workplace. I'd say it's mid-level book, in that you should be somewhat 
familar with Java.

I have also heard that "The Java Programming Language, Fourth Edition" 
by Ken Arnold, James Gosling, and David Holmes is also good, though I 
haven't read it myself yet.

> stu
>
> ps. All I need to do now is to farm the wife and kids out to a
> religious cult and I will have some real time to get started :P
>
>
> On 26/01/06, Greg Tassone <greg@tassone.net> wrote:
>   
>> On Thu, 2006-01-26 at 10:04 -0800, Ted Kosan wrote:
>> ...
>>     
>>> I agree with another poster that eventually you will want to focus your efforts
>>> on J2SE 5.0 but for people just learning Java you should be fine learning the
>>> fundamentals on J2SE 1.4.
>>>       
>> I agree.  Learn the fundamentals any which way you desire.  Don't worry
>> too much about which exact platform you are using for starting out.
>>
>>
>>     
>>>> Next up would be an IDE, is Kdevelop good for java or is netbeans a
>>>> good choice?
>>>>         
>> ...
>>     
>>> This is where my opionin will usually differ with most people.  My
>>> recommendation is that Java beginners should start with a Java editor and do
>>> all of thier development from the command line. The reason for this is that I
>>> think people do not truly understand how Java works until they understand how
>>> Java's runtime environemnt works at the commmand line level.
>>>       
>> I think there is merit to this opinion.  Using the command line teaches
>> you many things about the lower levels of a Java runtime that are
>> normally hidden with an IDE.  It is GOOD that they are generally hidden
>> when using an IDE, as this generally increases productivity.  However,
>> IDE's usually are NOT intended for learning (Josh's comments on BlueJ
>> notwithstanding, as I'm not familiar with the learning-focus of that
>> IDE, but it sounds interesting).
>>
>>
>>     
>>> As for which editor to use, I recommend using a Java-based editor instead of
>>> something like nano or vim because one is able to pick up a lot of Java-related
>>> information indirectly by using an editor that is written in Java.  The Java
>>> editor that I recommend is JEdit.
>>>       
>> Agreed.  With something like JEdit you can even write simple
>> (Java-based) bean-shell snippets to extend functionality of the editor,
>> which also can be good as you're learning.
>>
>> Enjoy!
>>
>> ~ Greg
>>
>>
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>>
>>     
>
>
>   

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