Good question and only someone whose been then there can save you time
on it.
While you'll inevitably end up using Borland's tools in one form or
another, there are other promising platforms out there (fortunately).
But Borlands freebie is not a whole lot different from their full blown
version. (And ofcourse there is always the wonderful Together product
which you'll find indepensible)
But before you get to enjoy any of that, you really need to start at
ground zero. It is quite simply, the quickest way to understand
everything Java is about. To fully appreciate Java, one must try to
imagine that perfect language they may have always ever thought of
writing if ever they wanted to write one themselves or had the time to
do so.
Well, enough plugging on Java and more about what you, the seasoned
programmer, must do, in order to quickly ramp up how to properly use the
language.
The first thing you must do is plan to spend the next 15 days going thru
it's certification study guide. There are a few on the market claiming
to be the #1 book for this purpose but pick only the one written by the
same people that wrote the certification exam.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0782140777/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/103-8442938-6823845
that is if passing the Java Certification exam is of any interest to
you. the reason why i recommend this is due to the fact that i studied
this one after i used another and i can say that due to subtle
differences in the texts, certain aspects of the Java language are not
highlighted. i believe these subtle differences to be of the upmost
importance for you, the seasoned professional, to be able to literally
port over your experiences with other developement languages and
understand how things are done in Java.
now, i know, you'll probably be thinking "but i can do this in a day".
why rush? what's the rush? why don't you plan instead to go get this
book and find a nice coffee shop somewhere and go thru each chapter, one
by one over the course of a week or two absorbing each concept as they
come to you (and try not to cheat, because you'll only be cheating on
yourself - the answers at the end of each chapter will be an excellent
way for you to figure out what you don't fully understand).
beyond that, your in for bit of a surprise. you are probably also
thinking, well, it looks nice enough (Java), but i'm not sure if it's a
real heavy duty language like C++. well if that's you line of thinking,
i'll bet the stockmarket your in for a rather delightful surprise....
but just like the matrix, i can only offer you the red pill, you have to
see it for yourself...
as for the seemingly more advanced tools like J2EE, get an understanding
of RMI, JDBC and perhaps JNI first. right now, there seems to be a Java
framework for every major concept out there and many to choose from to
suit your purposes. what i like about it the most though i think is that
everything just seems to want to work together, no struggle. everything
just seems to fit so nicely. i don't know why C++ people are so
intimidated by it, they shouldn't be. use C++ for developing operating
systems and areas where tight memory management is absolutely required,
use Java where garabage collection is not top priority or wherever you
want the best of both worlds and need to get something out the door
without reinventing the wheel (for the record, JIT native Java code runs
99.99% as fast as C++, sometimes faster depending on the app). there are
other languages too, do not discount those. just don't fall into the
trap of Java for everything but appreciate it for what it is....
but being a "professional programmer" i don't think i have to tell you
that...
cheers
- perry
