Java

More than just an island or delicious breakfest...

Java is a computer language that has been around for a while now. It is object-oriented capable (just ask me how I know), and it is a compiled language - of sorts. It doesn't feature alot of the speed perks of C++, but it is equally as powerful, and it is generally a friendlier language for beginners. The big attraction to Java is its easy interface into HTML web pages; this allows someone familiar with web design and HTML to create powerful Java-enabled applets on their site for attraction and performance.

I am much more prolific and knowledgebale with Java than I am with C++, although by no means or reach am I a master at it. Yes, I went through the mill and have so far had to do many of the common problems associated with newbie programmers - expression evaluation, shortest paths, OOP data structures, and sorting. Overall, I felt like Java is a language that one could easily get a firm grip on without too much stress - unlike C++, which is causing me all bad kinds of headaches.

On my machine, I didn't use Eclipse SDK or BlueJay, or any other major IDE (although I've seen people use those before, and they do look quite impressive.) Instead, I opted for my trusty old Textpad, which was a big improvement from emacs on the SSH Secure Shell (for some reason, I didn't want to give emacs up...I'm just living in the past, I guess.) Textpad was free, quick and small to download and install, and it is one of the most simple programs for code out there. It may not have alot of the features of one of the larger IDE's out there, but textpad is like the kung-fu master of compilers - small and quick, it is able to strike faster than those larger oafs; very portable, indeed. I would highly recommend Textpad, especially for the beginner, as it is easily the most user-friendly. You can get it here.


Here's a sample of TextPad in all its glory...I don't know if you can see it or not, but the selected menu says "Compile Java". A VERY easy and user-friendly program, indeed!

Sounds tasty. Where can I learn Java?

Look for a series of tutorials, just like with C++, coming soon. I am more experienced with Java than C++, and, personally, I think it is an easier language to learn. If you made it through the set OK in C++, Java shouldn't look very strange to you at all...in fact, most of the things we'll be doing in Java will look pretty much identical. And it should! Many object-oriented programming languages are based with intuitive names (such as "int" for integer), and they all seem to borrow from one another. While Java and C++ are VERY, VERY different at the core of the language (in terms of power, speed, and compiler issues), they will look very similar on a syntactic level. Think of it like Spanish and Italian: they both descend from a common ancestor (in this case, it would be an Object-Oriented ancestor), and once you learn one, it is very easy to cross over and learn the other.

As always, here are some links to other places worth checking out if you're learning Java:

Java API Documentation: This here is the Java 2 Plateform, SE (Standard Edition) API documentation. This will be like your dictionary or glossary: if your professor tells you that you need to use a certain class, object, or data structure in your program, yet you don't know what that is, or what it may extend - you'll find it here. There are so many classes and libraries here that it would be near impossible to understand everything, but it is a useful tool if, say, for example, you forgot all the methods inherant to the String class. Check it out Here.