Almost new to Java

[Mosquito]

Hi,

I've been doing some Java-programming several years ago, and now I want to update myself in order to be a stronger candidate for getting some money. Java is popular, and though I wasn't all that confortable with the language/tools, it's still a reasonable thing to look into to try to wrestle some money out of somebody.

My problem now is that Java is not a small set of simple to use downloads and happy times anymore. All sites Java seems to be "thicker than a Kansas school board" with stuff, and I just get lost in the complexities

I notice that the Apache web-server is doing good, there is something new called Java Server Faces, that might be interesting, if I can just find the time to check out what it actually is... And if I remember correctly I'll need Tomcat. These I can find, possibly install. But what else do I need/benefit heavily from getting and learning about?

I am not a web-designer, so anything HTML is just not my kind of game. What I like to do is the stuff that happenes behind the scenes. I can do about as much HTML as the next guy (the guy who delivers water) which means I can play with it a little, to test how things work.

Primarily I'm a developer, not administrator, so I'd appreciate if there are some very easy to follow instructions on how to get things to work...

If anybody here could help me find some good information on the recent javas, which versions to download, which other technologies I should also download to get things working and to learn something useful, I'd be grateful.

Ah, yeah, I'm also completely broke, so I can't afford to buy books , which I think is a good reason for looking into options of getting a little more money. I really like books, and can't afford even the library ones. It's a sad, sad life... Anyway, I'll look for some howtos on the web, to help me understand what's happening.

Since there was no java-thread on the first page, I suppose that even if a thread on this subject already exists, it is probably out of date by now, as it would be several days old (practically fossilized).


Mosquito - need an update, don't know where to start, will start googling now

 

[Mosquito]

Found some tutorials on Sun.com, that'll keep me reading for a few days

Mosquito - will still appreciate some hints (or money...)

 

[JamesM]

I, too, am overwhelmed by the plethora of Java acronyms and frameworks. Fortunately, I don't currently have any need to do any database or server applications, so I am insulated from nearly all of it.

However, to satisfy my curiousity over what the various things were. I found that downloading the free sample chapters from various o'reilly and manning books on their websites did the job (enough to know that I didn't need to concern myself with most of it).

If you haven't already, it's worth finding out about Ant, JUnit and Eclipse, though (and maybe log4j). You'll probably find them useful, whatever Java development you do.

 

[PogoPedant]

Primarily I'm a developer, not administrator, so I'd appreciate if there are some very easy to follow instructions on how to get things to work...

For all it's faults, the NetBeans IDE is probably the easiest way to go, if you don't want to deal with administation. It autodeploys any project to an Application Server that it runs itself. This way you can develop and test without having to learn much of anything about server administration. The downside is that you won't learn anything about actually deploying your projects

Good luck!

 

[Peskanov]

I've been doing some Java-programming several years ago, and now I want to update myself in order to be a stronger candidate for getting some money.

Run! Scape, while you still have time!

Now, seriously, are you sure there is demand in your area for Java programmers? And are you sure there are not a long queue of Java programmers waiting their turn?

 

[Mosquito]

Thanks guys!

I'll check into these things as I find time, hopefully Real Soon Now^TM (= within a couple of days, just need to download and start playing). It'll take some time to master these things, but if I just know a little about them, it will hopefully be much easier to land a contract ("If you talk the talk, you may have time to learn to walk the walk"-kinda idea. Though some walking is needed to be able to do the talking.)

About Java-jobs in my area, I don't think there are any. So why do I want to learn more about it? Because I am one evil bastard that wants to suck jobs out of some other area. This means less dough than actually being in that area, but I have personal reasons for trying to stay here. And I see that there are a lot of companies in that area looking for java-people.

I just hope that I can actually get a long distance contract, it will probably be difficult, but I need the money so I have to try. If it becomes really necessary, I'll travel. I'm flexible on that account, but I'll try to avoid it if possible.

I'd prefer C++-jobs, but they seem to be going out of fashion


Mosquito

[Shameless sympathy-begging]I removed several typos in this post, any remaining I'll blame on failing to get sufficient nutrition during the weekend.[/Shameless sympathy-begging]

(No, I'm not starving, yet)

 

[IllegalArgument]

Try www.javaranch.com, they have many sub-forums for different Java APIs.

 

[cesium]

They switched the AP computer sciece curriculum from C++ to Java a few years back. I was rather annoyed when I found this out, but I am still going to take the class.

There is no web programming, and I dont bilieve there is any GUI programming, just terminal apps, so I will just have to translate my C++ knowlage to java.