Java/NetBeans

[eslfish]

Anyone ever coded in Java with NetBeans? I am part a robotics club at our school. I am on the coding team, just wondering what kind of experience people had with Java/NetBeans here.

[berry120]

Been coding using both for a number of years now Get to know the features such as code completion, code templates, refactoring tools and that sort of thing. They save SO much time if you learn how to use them properly.

The number of people I still see using advanced IDEs as basic text editors still surprises me!

[eslfish]

Yeah, all we are doing is just copying and pasting codes. Java is pretty complex, I am thinking about getting into it!

[berry120]

Java is pretty complex, I am thinking about getting into it!

It is - but it's not that difficult to get started with. The scope of it is humungous however, there's very few people out there that are genuinely fluent in all its features!

If you want to work in the programming industry however, Java is definitely a good one to learn - arguably the most used language around at the moment, and nothing looks set to replace it any time soon.

[eslfish]

Isn't it the most advanced too?

[berry120]

Define most advanced?

It's definitely a language used on an enterprise level for lots of huge applications. If you mean used by lots of advanced programmers then yes - most decent programmers that I know of know at least the basics of it. It's not something like VB which has turned into a bit of a running joke in the industry!

If you mean most advanced as in hardest to learn - then no. It's actually pretty easy to get to grips with initially, but believe me you can end up frying your brain with some of the more advanced aspects of it if you're not careful...

[eslfish]

What I meant to say is you can do alot of things with it right? It's really amazing what kind of games or things you can make with Java.

[berry120]

Yup - you can do pretty much anything if you know how!

[rkolb86]

I use it. For Java and C++ on Linux and Window$. Its nice. I'm a beginner though.

[Spec]

Java CAN be advanced but i dont recomend taking a school course on it. I would have to say im pretty damn advanced when it comes to jAVA and c++..but i took courses on both in college and none even came close to what i had already learned on my own

[berry120]

Java CAN be advanced but i dont recomend taking a school course on it. I would have to say im pretty damn advanced when it comes to jAVA and c++..but i took courses on both in college and none even came close to what i had already learned on my own

Define advanced? It's a bit of a dangerous word to use with such a huge language unless you really have got a decade or so's worth of solid and undisputed experience with it

Whilst learning on your own can be a huge benefit, I wouldn't say there's anything wrong with doing it at school - indeed to some people it can be helpful. Just make sure you're checking what you're learning - just because it works and you were told to do it that way doesn't mean it's correct. I've seen courses that advocate the uses of public non-final variables for instance, which is a huge no-no...

[Spec]

well i can read ASM fluently, also can code the majority of things you throw my way.

[berry120]

well i can read ASM fluently, also can code the majority of things you throw my way.

I'm not trying to start an argument - but ASM has pretty much nothing to do with Java. It's about as far away as you can get from it. And being able to code the majority of things that come your way doesn't necessarily mean you're an advanced Java / C++ programmer...

If you fully understand and can use generics and the pros / cons of reified generics vs. erased generics, have dealt with applets and know all the security rules behind what you can and can't do and ways round them when appropriate, have written your own annotations, understand the difference between retention policies on annotations and when to use them, know how and when to use reflection appropriately, understand the difference between a static inner class and a normal inner class and when you'd use them, understand the threading model, how and when to use the Thread / Runnable classes and when you should use the java.util.concurrent library instead, understand the intricacies of swing and awt and all the little titbits like how to make windows transparent, double buffering and so on, have coded your own events, understand what System.gc() does and when it does it, when you should and shouldn't call it and what all the different gc options you can specify to the VM do, know what a synthetic class is, know about all the manifest options you can specify on a jar file and what they do - you're part of the way there. I could go on! Those are just a few fairly advanced things (some more than others) I pulled off the top of my head.

...and that's not including all the real world experience with commonly used libraries like the apache commons collection that proves invaluable if you're coding in a business environment.

I may be sounding a bit harsh here, but I've come across a lot of people coming out of college / secondary school / doing a few jobs on the side that think they're absolute experts in everything to do with Java. Realistically though it's because they've never been shown most of the features it has to offer!