What do I need to starting dabbling in Java programming?

[gazzarose]

Evening all. I've spent the last couple of evenings watching a few of the Tom Scott 'Basics' videos on youtube https://youtu.be/zp4BMR88260 and started thinking about doing some basic programming. I did some very basic stuff when I had a commadore 64 25 years ago, then a bit of "insert forgotton language here" when I was in uni doing electronic engineering 13 years(I left early and followed a different career path so drifted away from it all, I ended up being a technician and now workshop manager in a boat dealer) which I seem to remember writing the code in notepad, compiling, and then sending to a PIC chip in a little robot. I've got no intention of becoming a programmer or the next Zuckerberg, but just have a little dabble through some tutorials and maybe then move on to doing something with a raspberry pi.

Java seems quite popular and I could sort of follow it in the above video in a similarish way to the visual basic from my C64 and logic rules my electronic past. I had friends in uni who were into Java so I have at least known of its existence for a while.

My bit of research leads me to needing JDK, but when I try to download it, I need to sign up to Oracle and its asking for name, address, work phone number and allsorts that seems a bit much. Do I need JDK or is there an alternative?

Are there any good or 'fun' type tutorials?

I know it all sounds a bit vague, but other than a desire to have something to experiment with and keep me occupied while the Mrs watches crappy 'reality shows', I know very little about programming or what I want to achive.

[DanL]

You need an IDE - Eclipse is popular, and has the dev tools you will need. Don’t know if it comes with Java or not, unfortunately - I used a paid for IDE when I programmed, but it should see you right. Java has a licence, but is still free to use for home use...

Tutorials - can’t really help, but W3 schools was handy for me when looking up bits and pieces for www programming, and they have a Java section.

https://www.w3schools.com/java/

Good luck! Current programmers will doubtless be a log to steer you right...

[boxst]

If you would like to play with a Raspberry Pi then Python is quite good to start with rather than Java and is similar-ish to what you were doing with your C64 all those years ago.

https://www.learnpython.org

https://pythonprogramming.net/introduction-raspber...

[gazzarose]

I've got JDK downloading as we speak. I was a bit spooked with the Oracle page wanting to know loads of info, but for a software company, their form data checking isn't great. It accepted single letters as names and address, so other than my email address theres no real info been taken. I've found a you tube tuturial that I'll have a little play with tonight, and then I'll try and work through proper tutorials as time, and the winter when I'm stuck in the house, moves on.

I'm looking forward to reliving the excitement from when I was a kid on my C64 of writing a little program that asked a couple of questions, made a simple picture of a baloon move across the screen, or my personal favourite, making a gun shot noise. The latter took an entire afternoon of copying from a C64 magazine that I then didn't know to save so was lost when I turned the computer off to go to bed,lol.

[deckster]

You seriously don't need to learn Java or start mucking about with JDKs or Eclipse - I can practically guarantee you'll get frustrated and give up very quickly.

The learning curve is much friendlier with Python which as above is an excellent place to start. Loads of online tutorials to get you going too.

[wheelerc]

Another vote for Python over Java.

[gazzarose]

Is it bad that I'm bored already? Lol. The couple of videos I tried watching I sort of understood and was trying to follow, but I just wanted to scratch my ears off. Being good at programming doesn't make you a good teacher or youtube presenter! I'd sort of had my heart set on learning the Java stuff, mainly because I'd heard of it, but I think I'll have a go at the Python stuff on the recommendation of my fellow PHers, you havn't let me down before so I'll trust you.

I'm off to bed now though, up early for work tomorrow, so the next installment/declaration of quitting will be tomorrow evening.

Cheers guys

[silentbrown]

gazzarose said:

...but I think I'll have a go at the Python stuff on the recommendation of my fellow PHers, you havn't let me down before so I'll trust you.

Pretty much anything is a better bet than Java these days

Choice of language depends primarily on what you want to do with it. You might want to give JavaScript a shot, because that's the easiest way to work directly with web pages etc., because it's all built into the browser.

For example you can just hit CTRL-SHIFT-I in Chrome to get a the developer tools, click the "Console", and start typing....

    var audio = new Audio('http://soundbible.com/grab.php?id=2123&type=mp3')
        audio.play()  

More gunshots here... http://soundbible.com/tags-gun.html

(Despite the language name it's almost totally unrelated to Java)

[grumbledoak]

silentbrown said:

Pretty much anything is a better bet than Java these days

^^^ That. And fighting with Eclipse isn't a great starting point either.

OP, think of something you would like to do, because that's your motivation. Pick your language based on that.

[boxst]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You are of course correct with regards to in demand skill and that it can do virtually anything, I'm just suggesting Phython as they wanted something to 'dabble'. Java isn't a dabbling language, from setting up your environment before you can even start onwards.

[anonymous-user]

Find a task you have interest in and learn that way. Good tutorials on YouTube in different languages to solve different problems. Make sure you are applying what you learn and then try to adapt it. Stackoverflow is your friend. A skill in coding is being able to ask stackoverflow the right question and then adapt the code to fit. You will learn quickly this way and feel progress as you complete things.

[DanL]

boxst said:

You are of course correct with regards to in demand skill and that it can do virtually anything, I'm just suggesting Phython as they wanted something to 'dabble'. Java isn't a dabbling language, from setting up your environment before you can even start onwards.

This is an extremely fair point.

Also, as suggested you need to think what you want to do. Trying to program “something” is somewhat pointless, you need something to aim at, even if it’s a simple “hello world”, and building from there.

[deckster]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Genuinely an observation and not a dig, and I've never met you so this absolutely isn't personal. But (you knew there was a but) I've never met a Scala dev that wasn't completely up themselves. Not sure what it is about the language but there's a strong element of 'oh look at me I'm a functional programmer, look at the plebs with their objects aren't they quaint'. But maybe that's just my hangover from being forced - and largely failing - to learn ML at uni

The point of course is that it doesn't matter two hoots if you start with Java, Scala, Python or Fortran. What matters when starting out is that you are motivated to learn, ideally have a target that you're aiming for, and that you don't give up because you're fighting against the infrastructure. Learning to program is key, not learning any given language. Taken with that in mind, the lower the barrier to entry the better and something like Python - or even Scratch, if you really want to go simple - absolutely excels on that front.

[silentbrown]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

What industries/environments is Java used in these days, and is it a common choice for new projects rather than legacy stuff?

Serious question - I know Java always comes out high in the SO developer survey, but I don't know why...

[silentbrown]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I know it's used for Android app development, but I thought it was uncommon in PC/Mac apps, rarely used for web stack development, and fairly fundamentally unsuited to most real-time embedded or ultra high-performance stuff.

I guess that still leaves a lot of enterprise-level backend coding - has Java really become the Cobol of the 21st Century?

[wiggy001]

silentbrown said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I know it's used for Android app development, but I thought it was uncommon in PC/Mac apps, rarely used for web stack development, and fairly fundamentally unsuited to most real-time embedded or ultra high-performance stuff.

I guess that still leaves a lot of enterprise-level backend coding - has Java really become the Cobol of the 21st Century?

There's a reason it now comes with an Oracle logo...

[Olivera]

silentbrown said:

I know it's used for Android app development, but I thought it was uncommon in PC/Mac apps, rarely used for web stack development, and fairly fundamentally unsuited to most real-time embedded or ultra high-performance stuff.

I guess that still leaves a lot of enterprise-level backend coding - has Java really become the Cobol of the 21st Century?

Java is very much used in the web stack back end, and it is certainly suitable for high performance requirements.

It's pretty much still the defacto corporate choice, so if you intend to make a career as a software developer then it's well worth learning.

[Tebbers]

OP, I fear that if you start with Java you will quickly become overwhelmed and demotivated - in fact I think you may have experienced this already. It’s not an easy thing to learn. There’s a reason why coding bootcamps don’t have it in their curricula.

I would strongly recommend starting with what they do use - Python, Ruby or JavaScript. You’ll enjoy the small wins earlier and more frequently, and therefore be more motivated to continue.

[gazzarose]

Tebbers said:

OP, I fear that if you start with Java you will quickly become overwhelmed and demotivated - in fact I think you may have experienced this already. It’s not an easy thing to learn. There’s a reason why coding bootcamps don’t have it in their curricula.

I would strongly recommend starting with what they do use - Python, Ruby or JavaScript. You’ll enjoy the small wins earlier and more frequently, and therefore be more motivated to continue.

I didn't know that java and java script were 2 different things! That complicates things even more.

I didn't have chance to do anymore last night, we were at a 1 Yr olds birthday party, so equally as fun,lol.

Ive been thinking about what I want to actually achieve, and to be honest I havnt got clue. I wouldn't mind trying to get into some electronics again, but I can't remeber what language we were using back then. All I remeber is that it all. Good got loaded onto a, PIC chip. The other thing I was thinking is maybe trying to use an arduino with my sons/our model railway. Any idea what language works with that?

[plasticpig]

gazzarose said:

I didn't know that java and java script were 2 different things! That complicates things even more.

I didn't have chance to do anymore last night, we were at a 1 Yr olds birthday party, so equally as fun,lol.

Ive been thinking about what I want to actually achieve, and to be honest I havnt got clue. I wouldn't mind trying to get into some electronics again, but I can't remeber what language we were using back then. All I remeber is that it all. Good got loaded onto a, PIC chip. The other thing I was thinking is maybe trying to use an arduino with my sons/our model railway. Any idea what language works with that?

https://www.b4x.com/b4r.html

Dialect of BASIC so easy to learn. Good community support and is ideal for a hobbyist to get started.