How to start learn Java
Even the longest journey starts from first step ©
Someone smart
Introduction
Today I want to dispel all your fears which keep you from learning Java. Firstly, I want to remind you that all new things are often hard to understand. So don’t hope to pick it up easily if you are a newbie in programming. Thereafter if you are already familiar with a some other programming language, this will facilitate the learning process.
After such big words I want to continue my introduction to the main part of the article. Java is a powerful and progressive language, and its possibilities allow Java to retain a wide sector of the market. More than 3 billion devices all over the world are powered by Java: mobile phones, laptops, hardware, cards.
Java programming can be used for different purposes, but the fundamental part is always Java CORE. So if you are going to develop something for the web, Android or even for microcontrollers, you should to learn the basics.
How to start learn Java?
In this paragraph I will be very pragmatic. Initially I advise you to read Wiki, download and install JDK. There are plenty of tutorials in the internet explaining what to begin with. After that you will need to download IDE (personally I prefer Eclipse). These steps are the simplest ones you will take in the your learning process.
Further on you will need to find the relevant literature to serve you as a map in the Java world. I recommend one of the following Java books:
- Beginning Java, Java 7 Edition by Ivor Horton
- Big Java, 4th Edition by Cay Horstmann
- Java 7 for Absolute Beginners by Jay Bryant
You can also take a books written by Herbert Schildt or Bruce Eckel, these authors explain everything you need as a beginner.
The choice of books is wide enough… The good news is you don’t have to read all the staff they contain. Here is the list of required themes you need to know and understand:
- Variables and calculation (e.g. int, double, char, +, -, /, *, …)
- Loops and logical constructions (e.g. for, if, while, …)
- Arrays
- Strings
- Classes (OOP)
- Packages
- Interfaces
- Exceptions
- I/O streams (e.g. reading / writing files)
- Threads
- Collections (java.util)
- Lambdas
Don’t forget to do all exercises given in the books. Have a good luck in the study, use Google to find answers on all your questions and be patient. And of course this article gives just a general answer on question “how to learn java“, but your way may be pretty different. Any way, if you have any ideas about a distinct learning process of Java, just write about it in the comments section.
