Where to learn.

Discussion in 'Plugin Development' started by Allighten, Sep 10, 2016.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Offline

    Allighten

    I've done some research on how to learn coding, so far I've bought a beginners book of amazon.... I figured I'd want to get better, and soon code somewhat of a difficult plugin for friends,my server, others server...
    Is there a simple way to learn it? Is their a video I watch, a book I read. A class I take? Can someone reach out to me and help me find a way to learn it, i've ben struggling trying to learn this for 2years now, haven't learned anything really.....
     
  2. Offline

    Zombie_Striker

    You can find Java tutorials HERE. I would recommend the official Java tutorial created by orical.
     
  3. Offline

    BeastyBoo

    @Allighten @Zombie_Striker
    I have tried tutorialspoint. I cant find the oracle version or I just dont understand how to get to it?
     
  4. Offline

    I Al Istannen

  5. Offline

    BeastyBoo

  6. Offline

    I Al Istannen

    @BeastyBoo
    Well, what do you want to learn first? What do you know already? You will probably want to start with Learning the Java Language. Then click the "Next" button at the bottom left/middle or top left/middle of the page to get to the next site.
     
  7. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    @Allighten, I'm an audial learner, not a visual, so I've always preferred video lectures alongside of the oracle reading. It just works better for me, but it can be difficult to find good, reliable, and accurate lectures. This is the best source I've found. https://thenewboston.com/videos.php?cat=31
    While they are a bit dated, they still do a good job. They're primarily for syntax more than anything though, so you will still need to read the oracle docs or get yourself a textbook.

    Overall, I think the general consensus is this.
    1. The oracle docs/tutorialspoint are very accurate and detailed, but hard to understand.
    2. Online videos are great at explaining things to beginners, but they are very inaccurate. *cough*BCBroz*cough*
    3. Textbooks are fairly accurate and detailed, not too hard to understand, but cost some serious money and become outdated.
     
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2016
  8. Offline

    I Al Istannen

    @Tecno_Wizard
    +1 on textbooks. The basics will not really become outdated, but the cost is defenitely high.
     
  9. Offline

    Zombie_Striker

    @Tecno_Wizard @I Al Istannen
    Textbooks for all programming languages do not neccisiarily become outdated, but may not have some information. Since Java 8 came out three years ago, you wont be able to find a textbook that's older than that and teaches lambda expressions.
     
    I Al Istannen likes this.
  10. Offline

    I Al Istannen

    @Zombie_Striker
    I got one which proudly said "With Java 7" on the cover. Still didn't cover Paths and half of the other stuff. But it was great to get into the basics of the language.

    And lambdas and most of the Java 8 features are REALLY nice, but not needed to create a program. I would say you can grab a textbook for this kind of knowledge.

    For the really recent stuff you probably need the update notes and the "What is new in Java X" articles that pop up seconds after the release ;)
     
  11. Textbooks are great, but I can find them seriously boring at times. What I recommend is trial and error. and google.
     
  12. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    Let me rephrase that.

    "What I recommend is trial, error, people angry at you for said error, fixing said error, while (true) of the preceding, and StackOverflow."
    Welcome to programming.
     
  13. Offline

    I Al Istannen

    @Tecno_Wizard
    That is spot on xD

    https://xkcd.com/1185/
    (Look at the alt text (hover over the image))

    @TheEnderCrafter9
    Only works if you have a basic knowledge though (and know what to lookup). And for that a nice little textbook will probably be a lot more effective than some random internet site.

    But if I were you @Allighten, I would ask my Math teacher (as they tend to be the most involved in that from my experience. Programming and math are quite close) if he knows any course you can attend. Maybe a school working group?
    If not, your town may offer one. Maybe ask your parents if they can ask there?

    My school offers a course now in the "Oberstufe (pick one)" (age 16/17+). I have heard of some offering that to younger students too.
     
    Allighten likes this.
  14. Offline

    Allighten

    Thanks man!
     
  15. @I Al Istannen you search up the noledge you need to continue your plugin. And whatever the devs on here tell you to. That's how I learnt.

    Of course. You said it a lot better. Except than 90% of those angry people will be at SO.




    :(
     
  16. Offline

    mythbusterma

    @I Al Istannen

    Textbooks about a language should cover the syntax and common ways of building software in said language (in addition to widely used, language specific features). They are not for documenting every single class in the standard library. Most of that stuff is relatively standard and is available in most higher-level languages in their libraries. The book should arm you with the knowledge you need to read and understand the JavaDocs, which do provide information on every single class.
     
    I Al Istannen likes this.
  17. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    Which is why i never post on SO. I almost always ask here.
     
  18. Offline

    dotJar1

    Im trying to learn Java as well. I have been trying to learn for a while, and the best places to learn by far is TheNewBoston on YouTube or the oracle docs. For people that are recommending the book, I don't recommend it. It's simply not good for people new to the language. It makes everything sound so confusing and official, and it just doesn't translate as well as the others. I have been reading the book for about 6 weeks now and I STILL learned much more in a couple days then I did in the 6 weeks. Seriously not recommending the book, but it's just my opinion.
     
  19. Offline

    I Al Istannen

    @dotJar1
    I have learned a lot from a book, though I took breaks in between. But I think it really helped. Maybe you got a bad book, maybe I got a good one, maybe you lacked motivation back then or you are just not the person to learn well from books.

    I wouldn't say books are bad.

    Youtube tutorials can totally help, but they are often not really accurate or as well done as textual ones, though I believe I heard the youtuber you mentioned is quite good.

    You can't say anything against the Oracle docs in terms of correctness, but I find them a bit hard to read. The books I read tend to describe it a bit easier.
     
  20. Offline

    mythbusterma

    @dotJar1

    It depends on your book. It sounds like you got a pretty bad one, which, unfortunately, is the vast majority of programming books.
     
  21. Offline

    dotJar1

    @mythbusterma yeah I agree, it wasn't the greatest book for starting, but with a tad bit of basic understanding of the language, it makes for a good one.
     
  22. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    @dotJar1, unfortunately, a lot of programming books aren't so great for beginners. I got a massive Java textbook a year ago that probably wouldn't be great for someone who is new to programming, but it is absolutely fantastic for me.

    Keep up with TheNewBoston though. To this day I haven't found any real issues with his videos besides that, like all programmers, he does make some mistakes while he is recording. He really did a great job with that series.
     
  23. Offline

    dotJar1

    I agree, there isn't really too many issues as far as his tutorials go. The only thing that DOES have an issue now is adding the java to path, but that is an easy work around.
     
  24. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    @dotJar1, yeah... again, human mistakes and not something you have to do often. It's also a step exclusively necessary on Windows. #UnixForLife
     
  25. @Tecno_Wizard @dotJar1
    Didn't they make the installer add that path automatically?

    I mean.. it's still useful to know if you're like me and have 40 billion jdk's installed, which the installer doesn't seem to like..
     
  26. Offline

    Tecno_Wizard

    @AlvinB, it's very inconsistent. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes java works, but javac and jar don't.
     
  27. Offline

    dotJar1

    @AlvinB @Tecno_Wizard
    Yeah I think they might have added it to the path in the installer, I know python did, but I remember specifically having the issue of having to add it to path. I have tried to do it on several computers, sometimes it automatically adds it to path, sometimes it doesn't. It has its times.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page