Development Need some help with Java

Hi guys. Well the new University year has started for me today and sadly I need to repeat a topic which I failed last year. The topic being Application Development and the main culprit being java with a hint of ruby.

I understand the concepts and the basics but when it come to actually writing the code I am totally dumbstruck. Unfortunately this topic relies on coding off the top of your head and if I fail it again I wont be able to continue my degree until I successfully pass it.

I was just wondering if anyone had and tips or knows of any good sites or texts that I could look up to give me a hand. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Jason aka The boy 4rm oz

 

Sounds like you are having trouble with the basic programming concepts (structuring)? My advice as a professional software developer (C/C++, PHP, Java, C#, etc. etc. ad nauseam), is to try programming in a language like C/C++, as it is far easier to grasp the concepts in these languages, allowing you to get a feeling for what to use when.

Java is really about forcing you to do it the One Right Way (tm), whereas C/C++ just hands you a whole bunch of rope and tells you to have fun with it. That's the best way I can describe it

Anyway, if you describe in a more detailed fashion what you are having trouble with exactly maybe we can provide more help

 

you could always look here it teaches web related stuff.

link courtesy of lp_rob, who posted it in another thread

 

I'd suggest start coding your own project when you're not studying. Something relatively simple that you can really get into. Maybe something like a tipping program for tipping a local sport (frontend in Java maybe and backend storage in Ruby)?

So if you do that enough while googling around, a lot of it will end up sticking in your head.

 

I would give you some more rep, but the forum won't let me...

 

Try some fb puzzles

http://www.facebook.com/careers/puzzles.php

 

Thanks for the info guys, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for the link brighty, looks like those puzzles will be able to help me quite a bit.

Sorry about the vagueness of the first post, I was trying to go to bed as I posted it.

I guess the main problem I am having with java is really the structuring and knowing which methods to call etc. When I am doing my practicals and assignments I can work stuff out due to help from the Internet (mostly W3 schools as shown in the link RichCreedy posted) and help from friends. When it comes to the tests or exam when I have to code from the top of my head without the help of the API I can't remember a single thing. I can work out some of the basic problems but more advanced stuff has me stumped.

I guess another problem I have is that I really have no interest in programming, it's not my strong point and I don't intend to pursue it as a career so I tend to find it really hard to concentrate and become motivated about the topic.

I know getting better at Java and any programming code is all about practice I just need some help to make the practice a little easier.

I recently found this helpful site for learning Ruby, it's called "Ruby for Kids". It teaches you the basics of Ruby by getting you to make small games, pretty cool.

 

Learn how to write sudo code and research data structures. While this doesn't help with with programming par se it helps you as a programmer since you can write out what you want to do in an abstract way then all you need is write the code from that. Each language is fundamentally the same with maybe slight differences in how data is stored which you wont have to worry about until you actually start writing the actual code. Overall I've found it stops me getting lost in mountains of code and reduces duplication.

If you want I could send some notes on data structures. Java is better for learning than C/C++ simply because when you learn pointers data structures tend to loose their relevance. At least in Java you have to think about how your packing the data and how your gonna get it out again.

 

Thanks a lot for the tips javaman. I would really appreciate the notes if you could send them my way. If you could PM them to me or email them to JasonBottin01@gmail.com that would be great.

 

Do you want to PM me your email rather then have it posted publicly? Ill get the notes mailed to you tomorrow. (off to bed now)

 

My email is on my profile anyway, doesn't really bother me. Thanks.