Learning Java programming

[davholla]

Can anyone suggest any good books/tutorials (ie ones they have used themself not just look on google) for learning Java. Particualarly learning Java for games.

There are quite a few out there but I do not know how good they are and it is hard to tell.
I can program in python and basic shell scripts + PL/SQL but no Java so far.

[bsh152s]

Best place to start is the source: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/ . In regards to game programming (3D), try the java3d tutorial: http://java.sun.com/developer/onlineTraining/java3d/. And another very useful link is the API: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/index.html. I'm always using that.

[dannybunkins]

java in a nutshell

O'reily books have been the best help for me

[Gogeta_44]

Head First Java by O'Reily.

[gamblor01]

Yeah Java in a Nutshell is good, but I think that's more reference material. I know someone that hard a time trying to start out with that. But she wasn't all that interested in learning, so a more dedicated person might like it better. I bought a book years ago called "Teach Yourself Java" by Joseph O'Neil. It worked really well for me though I already had some experience with C++ at the time. I mean, I knew enough in C++ to do loops, functions, the difference between passing by reference and by value, and basic "what is a pointer." If you have any basic programming skills, especially in a syntatically similar language like C/C++/C# (especially C#) then you shouldn't find Java too difficult. Java is much safer and much easier. Dealing with objects is much easier. There are no pointers (though there are references which are similar entities) and EVERYTHING IS PASSED BY VALUE! You'll hear people say objects are passed by reference, but they're not. It's actually the reference to the object that is passed by value, but since you have a copy of the reference (which is the same memory address), it essentially functions as though it were passed by reference.

In any case, if you have a bit of programming skills already, any teach yourself from Barnes & Noble is probably fine. Just out of curiosity, what exactly do you plan on learning Java for? Maybe we could point you in a better direction if you know.


Ditto on the O'Reilly stuff by the way. Most of their books are really good. I have several: "Java in a Nutshell", "Learning Perl", and "Programming in Jakarta Struts" to name a few. They're all really good, though I think the struts book assumes A LOT of prior experience and knowledge.