Before I go....

Hi all,
I am going to Southampton to study Computer Science in October
Their course is based around Java I believe, and although I have looked at some simple java applets and stuff, I don't really know much about it.
I am pretty good at VB plus HTML and some scripting languages.
Is it worth me trying to learn some Java before I go (or anything else).
I know it is taught at beginner level, but I would like to be prepared.
Can anyone recommend some good Java tutorials etc?
Thanks for all your help

Reply 1

Anubis

Java is NOTHING like other programming languages, since it is Object Orientated. I hated learning it and so did most, cos it sorta broke all the standard rules most programmers are used to when dealing with Microsoft style languages.

Just remember this (though it isn't typed out like this, obviously):

Instance variables (int dog)

Constructor (dog = 3)

Methods (dog * n)

Thats pretty much a standard layout of hhow Java works. Its three parts as you can see - name a variable and its type, then constructor is the value of it at first, then obviously methods will change or do something with it.

Classes are like catagories and hold the above (e.g: transport, houses, etc). Subclasses branch off of classes (types of the class - car, lorry, plane).
Objects are single instances of the class (This particular Porsche for example)

So, to sum it up in a nut shull:

Classes (Transport) > Subclasses (Car) > Objects (My very own Porsche).

Enjoy! :wink:

Reply 2

uncleramsay

So you wouldn't recommend attempting any learning or self teaching before I go then?
Isn't Java supposed to be one of the most powerful languages though?
It would be really cool to learn I'm ure even if it doesn't follow convention.

Reply 3

JennLlama

If you've got some free time, it's worth looking over it a bit - just google for Java tutorials or something and you'll find loads of online ones which will at least describe the basics. Java is completely unlike VB (and HTML, etc. don't usually count as "programming" languages as such anyway) but is not really all that different from, say, C in principle (though obviously there are some differences, otherwise why have two languages!). However, you'll know some of the basic concepts of programming from VB, such as variables, methods, etc. which will help you along and give you an advantage over people who have done no programming at all.
Jenn xx

Reply 4

userunknown

It's worth learning the nuances of installing the JVM, how to use things like the java compiler, javadoc, running java programs from the command line, setting up the class path (could put that into a batch file). The structure of a simple program is similar to JavaScript in that they are curly based languages, with you previous experience you shouldn't have any style problems. It might be worth learning some OO theory, a simple book on UML will give you a good idea of the thinking behind OO, without bogging you down in semantics and class libaries. Not sure if Southampton specifies a ide for their java modules, some uni's use Blue J, so it might be worth familiarising yourself with a text editor like Jcreator or netbeans, or the many others that are available. The java documentation for java is also worth familarising yourself with how to find what you want to know and the layout structure of it.