Java

deceit

Hi, i'm in college studying a degree in IT management and after first year I stop learning java. I still want to continue learning this for myself to create programs as I really like programming.
Would someone be able to point me in the direction of night courses I could do over the summer to continue this or even just people that teach it for an extra income.
This is the degree i'm doing and it focuses on what is more suitable for my job so I wouldnt switch to a different degree even though I prefer programming.
http://www.it-tallaght.ie/index.cfm/page/coursept?id=71

Aswerty

Self learning is your best option at this point and I'd advise you to invest in some good books if you don't have any. You should also do some projects that allow you to master different areas of the Java technology stack.

In your second year you do databases, networking and web development. Learning how Java interacts with databases, how to socket program and how to implement a server side language for web development will both improve your programming skills and help you with your course content. There may even be a little bit of Java mixed in with these modules unless it's pure theory. The testing done in the Software Engineering module is very relevant to Java development and if testing is of interest to you you can have a look at a unit testing framework such as JUnit.

deceit

Aswerty wrote: »

Self learning is your best option at this point and I'd advise you to invest in some good books if you don't have any. You should also do some projects that allow you to master different areas of the Java technology stack.

In your second year you do databases, networking and web development. Learning how Java interacts with databases, how to socket program and how to implement a server side language for web development will both improve your programming skills and help you with your course content. There may even be a little bit of Java mixed in with these modules unless it's pure theory. The testing done in the Software Engineering module is very relevant to Java development and if testing is of interest to you you can have a look at a unit testing framework such as JUnit.

Hi thanks for the reply. I have been self learning but I am looking to do the course or grinds to help with what path to follow and to make sure I dont take any shortcuts and learn properly as I want to be a good programmer even though will only make programs for myself as a hobby.
It also helps with motivation when I am doing a course or being taught as its easy to put it off when I have to study for networking and product specialization exams for work instead.
I've purchased Beginning Java 7th Edition by Ivor Horton and its already answered some questions I've had that puzzled me.
I can see this book being really helpful in the future.
I have also been learning all the same stuff in c++ which is easy as it just seems to be different syntax so far so would also be willing to do courses/grinds in this if there are more options for these course/grinds wise around south Dublin, south west Dublin and the city center.
I was thinking maybe if I get to the level of the computer science year two students by the end of the summer I would be happy with that and would take it from there by myself.

Aswerty

I understand what you're saying regards you'd find it difficult to find the time to work in your own time but the modules you'll be doing next year are highly relevant to improving your Java development skills as I mentioned. So by the end of 2nd year you will be much better positioned to develop Java based software solution regardless if you do any extra courses. If you haven't moved beyond command line programs Swing UI development could be something you could pursue, note that Swing is not used much in the real world since Java desktop applications are uncommon. You could also look to do Java2d/Java3d which are some of the funner aspects of Java. You could also look at giving android app development a go.

I don't know anything about the Dublin courses/grinds scene so can't help you out on that front.

deceit

Aswerty wrote: »

I understand what you're saying regards you'd find it difficult to find the time to work in your own time but the modules you'll be doing next year are highly relevant to improving your Java development skills as I mentioned. So by the end of 2nd year you will be much better positioned to develop Java based software solution regardless if you do any extra courses. If you haven't moved beyond command line programs Swing UI development could be something you could pursue, note that Swing is not used much in the real world since Java desktop applications are uncommon. You could also look to do Java2d/Java3d which are some of the funner aspects of Java. You could also look at giving android app development a go.

I don't know anything about the Dublin courses/grinds scene so can't help you out on that front.

Yea I know the modules will be important for me thats why I was hoping to get up to a level of what the computer sciences students would be at the end of year two before I start so when i'm learning this I can also learn how to put it together with the further knowledge i've learned.
I've only done command line programming so far. I will give swing and Java2d/Java3d a look, thanks for the advice.
I was hoping to learn up to second year standard before looking at andriod development so I fully understand the basics before starting into it.