A question about practical Java programming books

J

Jim

I am new to the Java programming world. I
have learned the basics of the Java language.
I am looking for some 'practical' Java
programming books. There are many excellent
java books, but all of them are about the
syntax of the language and OOP. The problem
that I, and I think many new programmers,
have is in the compiling and running even the
simplest Java programs; setting classpath,
directory structure and other practical
aspects. There are many practical programming
books for C/C++, but I haven't found any
books that covers these topics for Java.
Although setting classpath seems very easy,
but many new programmers have problem with
it.
More specifically I am looking for a book (
or online resources, I prefer books though !)
which covers the following topics:
The java compiling and running environments,
command line arguments, tips and practical
considerations for setting environmental
variables in different platforms: Unix/Linux,
Windows, proper ways of designing directory
structures and packages, the meaning of
compile and run-time error messages; basics
of IDEs and concepts of work space and
projects, introduction to the popular IDEs,
etc

I'd appreciate if any body can help me!

Thanks

Jim
 
M

Mirco Novena

hello Jim

More specifically I am looking for a book (
or online resources, I prefer books though !)
which covers the following topics:
The java compiling and running environments,
command line arguments, tips and practical
considerations for setting environmental
variables in different platforms: Unix/Linux,
Windows, proper ways of designing directory
structures and packages, the meaning of
compile and run-time error messages; basics
of IDEs and concepts of work space and
projects, introduction to the popular IDEs,
etc

have a look here:
http://java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/new2java/programming/learn/

or for more online tutorials (java center):
http://java.sun.com/learning/new2java/index.html

or (overview): http://java.sun.com/learning/index.html

I like books, but I've seen a lot of java programming books, but all you
really need is on the web (-> sun or others pages): plenty of examples.

cheers
mirco
 
T

TechBookReport

Jim said:
I am new to the Java programming world. I
have learned the basics of the Java language.
I am looking for some 'practical' Java
programming books. There are many excellent
java books, but all of them are about the
syntax of the language and OOP. The problem
that I, and I think many new programmers,
have is in the compiling and running even the
simplest Java programs; setting classpath,
directory structure and other practical
aspects. There are many practical programming
books for C/C++, but I haven't found any
books that covers these topics for Java.
Although setting classpath seems very easy,
but many new programmers have problem with
it.
More specifically I am looking for a book (
or online resources, I prefer books though !)
which covers the following topics:
The java compiling and running environments,
command line arguments, tips and practical
considerations for setting environmental
variables in different platforms: Unix/Linux,
Windows, proper ways of designing directory
structures and packages, the meaning of
compile and run-time error messages; basics
of IDEs and concepts of work space and
projects, introduction to the popular IDEs,
etc

I'd appreciate if any body can help me!

Thanks

Jim
I think you're right, very often it's the mechanics that get in the way
rather than the syntax. Some of the better intro books do cover this,
but never in huge depth. You might want to take a look at Bruce Eckel's
Thinking In Java (available for free online). The following page from
Sun might also be useful for any immediate problems:

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/interpack/managingfiles.html

HTH
Pan
===================================================
TechBookReport http://www.techbookreport.com/JavaIndex.html
 
W

Will Hartung

TechBookReport said:
I think you're right, very often it's the mechanics that get in the way
rather than the syntax. Some of the better intro books do cover this,
but never in huge depth. You might want to take a look at Bruce Eckel's
Thinking In Java (available for free online). The following page from
Sun might also be useful for any immediate problems:

http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/interpack/managingfiles.html

That looks like a pretty good little page.

When is comes to fixing Java problems, I rely on a simple, 2 page book
titled "How to fix Java Problems"

On page one it says: "It's a CLASSPATH problem."

On page two it says: "See page 1."

The CLASSPATH is THE hurdle you must understand to get anything to work in
Java, and it can be VERY frustrating. Save for syntax issues and basic logic
issues, CLASSPATH issues take up most of the rest of the problems. So, do
spend extra time on the CLASSPATH concept. You WILL be rewarded for your
time.

The other thing you want to set up and get used to, IMHO, is Ant.

Of all things, the Tomcat documentation has a sample Webapp application that
comes with a project hierarchy and configured build.xml for Ant. This is a
small enough project that explains the common, most used bits of Ant for
development and makes a really good use case to study. It doesn't overwhelm
you with options. With the info in that build.xml, you can do lots of things
that builds need to do.

Finally, try and not learn the entire platform at once. Java is ENORMOUS.
Pick a segment and focus on that for awhile. If you don't have a project in
mind, try working with webapps first, then GUIs, then EJBs. Webapps are
quick bang for buck in terms of doing Interesting Things and seeing results
quickly, as well as getting you neck deep into the intricacies of the
platform.

Regards,

Will Hartung
([email protected])
 

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