Java SE6..HELP!

Marsden

Was given an online java course to do through FAS. I've no fluckin idea what its going on about. I've no programming experience or training.

Should I give up or does it get easier?

NeverSayDie

It doesn't get easier, but you do get better at it as you work through it - that'll include understanding things more easily.

This book is supposed to be a good beginner's intro to Java;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Head-First-Java-Kathy-Sierra/dp/0596009208

Stuxnet

are you doing it on your own, with no one to explain stuff ? YIKES

I dont want to say give up,
but no way i could do it like that,

I've a year of it done in UL, and it is tough, and obviously I'm not learning on my own, i'm getting it now, but no way i feel me personally would of picked it up on my own, there's too much too it that needs explaining

Buceph

I don't know what the FAS course is like, but knowing FAS it's probably complete crap.

I'm going through learning Java at the moment, I used the Head First book recommended above. And I'm now looking through creating 2d graphics and game AI with the intent of making a game or two. It'll help if you have a goal for yourself, a program you want to make. It'll set your mind and get you thinking about how to put the pieces together.

Something to look at is iTunes University. There's a series of lectures by a Standford computer science lecturer teaching Java to people with no experience in programming. I've found it to be very helpful. Open iTunes and search for "Programming Methodology" it's by a guy called Mehran Sahami from Stanford. It's explained a lot of stuff I hadn't a complete grasp of from reading text examples.

selfdiy

It will get easier, find simple examples of the concept your trying to learn.

Run the examples through eclipse, or with notepad and through the command line.

Change the examples around a bit, I think its the best way to learn.

Saffy3791

Hi Marsden, I would assume that you have a tutor or facilitator allocated to you for this course. Perhaps you could talk to him or her and let them know that you are confused or unsure of what you should be doing.

Is this the right course for you? Surely you would have explained what IT experience you had to FAS before you chose to register for the course and I would assume you had done some research on your own behalf to make sure this was the course for you before you committed to doing it.

Buceph, regarding FAS courses being crap, a learner is ultimately responsible for their own learning. Bring a horse to water etc, etc. . . .

It's probably wise in life not to use sweeping statements such as this.

Tom Dunne

Saffy3791 wrote: »

Hi Marsden, I would assume that you have a tutor or facilitator allocated to you for this course. Perhaps you could talk to him or her and let them know that you are confused or unsure of what you should be doing.

Is this the right course for you? Surely you would have explained what IT experience you had to FAS before you chose to register for the course and I would assume you had done some research on your own behalf to make sure this was the course for you before you committed to doing it.

Buceph, regarding FAS courses being crap, a learner is ultimately responsible for their own learning. Bring a horse to water etc, etc. . . .

It's probably wise in life not to use sweeping statements such as this.

In the interest of transparency, would you like to tell everyone what your connection to FAS is?

henryporter

Have a look at www.thenewboston.com for some handy online lessons that might help you through.

JohnathanM

Hey, Marsden. In comparison with other programming languages, Java is often considered to have a fairly steep learning curve. In reality, when you remove the frameworks it relies on it isn't that bad.

I've always thought that a great (and free) book for beginners was "Thinking in Java". It runs through basic object-oriented concepts and gets straight into code. You might still find it tough going, but follow the links under "Electronic Book Format" here to have a look:

http://www.mindview.net/Books/TIJ/

Alongside that, take a look at Java Ranch:

http://www.javaranch.com/

Perhaps start here:

http://www.javaranch.com/java-college.jsp

Good luck!

GaryCanDance

It gets easier once you learn to think like a programmer and gets harder once you start going deeper.

I'm currently studying it in college and there's a guy on youtube called the New Boston who i use to help me out.

He's real good for beginner level java and he trys to make it interesting and easy to follow.
The New Boston

If you're looking to learn any other programming languages he's also has good tutorials on C++ and the rest.

Good luck buddy stick with it.

GaryCanDance

henryporter wrote: »

Have a look at www.thenewboston.com for some handy online lessons that might help you through.

Dam just saw somebody already posted a link to him

Either way he's good

markeyk

Marsden wrote: »

Was given an online java course to do through FAS. I've no fluckin idea what its going on about. I've no programming experience or training.

Should I give up or does it get easier?

Are you doing the online (i.e totally on your own) or the blended learning, with weekly class?. Both options are avaialble.

I tried to do it online and could not make any progress, I then managed to get onto a blended learning course, same course but with a weekly class and online support. Having the tutor made a big difference

There was a large dropout rate and only a few passed the exam. Most of those that stayed and passed had previous experience or had done introductory Software Development courses.

The training material provided by FAS was not great, but the tutor gave us much better material. I passed the exam (Oracle/Sun Certified Java Programmer)

It is definitely not for beginners, you would need a programming background.

Kenny Logins

Marsden wrote: »

Was given an online java course to do through FAS. I've no fluckin idea what its going on about. I've no programming experience or training.

Should I give up or does it get easier?

I feel your pain. I'm learning Java (Android) myself at home and yes, it is very difficult, but I shudder at the thought of doing it through Fás...

The New Boston is excellent, but you really need to do the projects with him, rather than watch and try to take it in. Java for Dummies is very similar, if you prefer to try it in book form.

Nulty

Buceph wrote: »

I don't know what the FAS course is like, but knowing FAS it's probably complete crap.

I'm going through learning Java at the moment, I used the Head First book recommended above. And I'm now looking through creating 2d graphics and game AI with the intent of making a game or two. It'll help if you have a goal for yourself, a program you want to make. It'll set your mind and get you thinking about how to put the pieces together.

Something to look at is iTunes University. There's a series of lectures by a Standford computer science lecturer teaching Java to people with no experience in programming. I've found it to be very helpful. Open iTunes and search for "Programming Methodology" it's by a guy called Mehran Sahami from Stanford. It's explained a lot of stuff I hadn't a complete grasp of from reading text examples.

http://academicearth.org/courses/programming-methodology

stesh

iPwnage wrote: »

are you doing it on your own, with no one to explain stuff ? YIKES

I dont want to say give up,
but no way i could do it like that,

I've a year of it done in UL, and it is tough, and obviously I'm not learning on my own, i'm getting it now, but no way i feel me personally would of picked it up on my own, there's too much too it that needs explaining

While having someone there to explain things can be useful, it pales in comparison to sitting down at your computer with a text editor and compiler and trying things out for yourself. Nobody can 'teach' you how to program except yourself.

Naikon

I am not trying to put you down, you can learn. However, I would question going into any IT/programming job without a strong ability to learn on your own. Most of the stuff I learned about computers and programming was done on my own watch. College only teaches you the basics as far as I am concerned. That does not account for all the other soft bull**** they "teach" you. If you can't sit down at a computer for say 5 hours to debug a complex problem, you really should consider another career path. It works for me. I am not a "people person" or whatever they call it these days. At least computers do EXACTLY what you tell them to do.

Marsden

Thanks for all your help folks I'm using "em go ahead" thenewboston. Makes it so much easier to understand.

FAS sucks nads!:D

MungBean

Marsden wrote: »

Thanks for all your help folks I'm using "em go ahead" thenewboston. Makes it so much easier to understand.

FAS sucks nads!:D

Hey Marsden, I'm doing the same course and finding it tough too. I've pretty much given up on the skillsoft ****e and I'm learning from other sources. Gonna post a few links to stuff thats helped me a bit in the off chance ya get something out of em too.


http://www.javavideotutes.com/
Video tutorials - I hate buckys voice so this was a god send.

http://see.stanford.edu/see/lecturelist.aspx?coll=824a47e1-135f-4508-a5aa-866adcae1111
Complete free course from Stanford on programming methodology. The lecturer is brilliant and very clear. He uses some robot thing at first with pre made classes to explain the language and how its used but you can skip to lecture 4 if ya like where he starts with java. (think its lecture 4 sorry if it isnt)

I decided a week ago to just start learning from a book (Java in two semesters) and not waste my time fighting with the FAS crap (which is aimed at programmers not people wanting to learn to program). One week from book I learned more than 3 weeks off the website. Still slow progress but better than scratchin me hole.

MungBean

Saffy3791 wrote: »

Hi Marsden, I would assume that you have a tutor or facilitator allocated to you for this course. Perhaps you could talk to him or her and let them know that you are confused or unsure of what you should be doing.

Is this the right course for you? Surely you would have explained what IT experience you had to FAS before you chose to register for the course and I would assume you had done some research on your own behalf to make sure this was the course for you before you committed to doing it.

Buceph, regarding FAS courses being crap, a learner is ultimately responsible for their own learning. Bring a horse to water etc, etc. . . .

It's probably wise in life not to use sweeping statements such as this.

The FAS councellor I spoke with had very little knowledge of the courses, and the course description itself only said "knowledge of other languages are an advantage" it most definitely should have said that prior programming experience is necessary. I have no experience in anything even remotely related to the IT sector yet was not discouraged from attempting the course. The website itself is extremely poor and confusing. The CMD software to run the interactive learning program is appalling bad. I think the general public know full well what FAS is capable of and thats very little. FAS keeps putting people on courses that are not suited to them because they themselves have no training to be doing the jobs they are in. For all intents and purposes for a lot of people FAS has been nothing but a waste of time and taxpayers money. So dont come on here and blame someone who's trying to get somewhere when the fault clearly lies with the inability of FAS to do what it is suppose to do.



Sorry for having a pop mods but this kinda (its not our fault your thick) attitude from FAS sickens me.

Marsden

Skunkle wrote: »

The FAS councellor I spoke with had very little knowledge of the courses, and the course description itself only said "knowledge of other languages are an advantage" it most definitely should have said that prior programming experience is necessary. I have no experience in anything even remotely related to the IT sector yet was not discouraged from attempting the course. The website itself is extremely poor and confusing. The CMD software to run the interactive learning program is appalling bad. I think the general public know full well what FAS is capable of and thats very little. FAS keeps putting people on courses that are not suited to them because they themselves have no training to be doing the jobs they are in. For all intents and purposes for a lot of people FAS has been nothing but a waste of time and taxpayers money. So dont come on here and blame someone who's trying to get somewhere when the fault clearly lies with the inability of FAS to do what it is suppose to do.

Alright Skunkle your right about FAS, I was told to do it as it would be easy, especially as I'd done my ECDL 12 years ago! Theres no way in the world a novice could learn java through skillsoft, its not feasible. I'm liking Bucky so far but I'll definitely give Stanford online a go too. Thanks for the advice.