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How do I keep myself focused on learning Java?
Colonellooo
sekwah41
Hi everyone, as you can tell by the name of the topic my question is how do I keep myself focused on learning Java? I've been trying to learn Java for almost 6 months now but I am moving at an extremely slow pace. I am still only on chapter 4 of my 16 chapter book. I often times get very distracted while trying to learn it. I usually find myself working on it for around an hour before I go and watch Netflix or play a video game. I have tried multiple different methods of learning such as online videos but a book is the only thing that has worked for me so far. So for all you programmers out there how do you keep yourself focused while learning a new language? I have spring break coming up and I'd like to spend at least 5+ hours every day trying to learn more Java.
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To be honest if your learning java and get good at it if you ever need to use python for anything you should be able to pick it up very fast, I mean I pick up languages quite quick but I self taught myself programming by recompiling mc and messing with the source code.
Just try to set yourself small challenges or something small so you see results quite quick, then work your way up to larger projects. I mean when I started I couldn't stand trying to make something that took more than 20 mins if I couldn't see anything at all working and now ill spend hours on something before its fully functional.
Just remember everything varies depending on the specific person so try to tailor how you learn to your specific interests.
Just try to set yourself small challenges or something small so you see results quite quick, then work your way up to larger projects. I mean when I started I couldn't stand trying to make something that took more than 20 mins if I couldn't see anything at all working and now ill spend hours on something before its fully functional.
Just remember everything varies depending on the specific person so try to tailor how you learn to your specific interests.
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Thanks for all the replies everyone. I'd reply to all of them if there weren't so many.I'll try all the different methods listed above.
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I like to program stuff I enjoy,
I started out with text book and a cool lecture course at udemy which I found quite good,
Minecraft is great as I get to program and keep the momentum going (stopping for a while really messes me up as I forget stuff) but its something I love as with plugins you can see instant stuff and you have this great community backing you and encouraging you
I started out with text book and a cool lecture course at udemy which I found quite good,
Minecraft is great as I get to program and keep the momentum going (stopping for a while really messes me up as I forget stuff) but its something I love as with plugins you can see instant stuff and you have this great community backing you and encouraging you
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F.. the book, you need to start writing code while reading the book. Just reading the whole book won't mean that you can even code Java after you're done.
Also it will help you keep focused if you're going to code something useful not stuff like simple Math and IO methods... sure, you need to know how to do that, but why stop there.. ? Put some effort in it...
Also it will help you keep focused if you're going to code something useful not stuff like simple Math and IO methods... sure, you need to know how to do that, but why stop there.. ? Put some effort in it...
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jjcyalateraceyxxThe good thing about java is it's built to be a friendly programming language.
Ha!
Java:
System.out.println("Hello world");
or
Python:
print "Hello world"
C++
cout << "Hello World"
Doesn't make it more friendly >_>
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if you want to learn java, fine with me. I have no idea what you'd use it for, and I personally recommend any other language, but im a coding nub, so that might not be the best advice. Also a way I found to keep myself at it is to just do little pieces, not looking at the big thing I'm trying to do.
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Small device apps, web apps, minecraft, etc etc.
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I once started learning Java ... All 5 minutes of it lol!
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aceyxxThe good thing about java is it's built to be a friendly programming language.
Ha!
Java:
System.out.println("Hello world");
or
Python:
print "Hello world"
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The good thing about java is it's built to be a friendly programming language.
I find that the best way I pick up a programming language is to set myself in a space where there's every reason for me to learn it. For example (not that I'm saying it's a programming language) but recently I've been messing around with the plugins on my server and I used to use CommandHelper to run command macros. After getting annoyed that the macros I've been doing can only go so far, I've started looking at what else the plugin can do. And that's when I found that it utilises MethodScript or MScript.
This was two days ago.... now that I know that the tool is there, I look at my server and think.... what do I want to do. Once I have that goal, I look at the api and work from there. I have to say that I'm pretty proficient at it now, but it's just a scripting language.
Although the same principles apply. You're not gonna put weight into learning Java if you're not seeing your goal and putting weight on it because Java is just the tool. Find a project that you could really stick to that uses Java, and go from there
I do a fair bit of web development and I can say I've learnt a whole heap of languages that way (Java, C#, HTML/CSS, JS, jQuery, AJAX, MScript, C++) on the other hand... there's this language called ASP.net where I'm not even that confident on it because I've only read the book and played with it a little with no project to stick to.
I find that the best way I pick up a programming language is to set myself in a space where there's every reason for me to learn it. For example (not that I'm saying it's a programming language) but recently I've been messing around with the plugins on my server and I used to use CommandHelper to run command macros. After getting annoyed that the macros I've been doing can only go so far, I've started looking at what else the plugin can do. And that's when I found that it utilises MethodScript or MScript.
This was two days ago.... now that I know that the tool is there, I look at my server and think.... what do I want to do. Once I have that goal, I look at the api and work from there. I have to say that I'm pretty proficient at it now, but it's just a scripting language.
Although the same principles apply. You're not gonna put weight into learning Java if you're not seeing your goal and putting weight on it because Java is just the tool. Find a project that you could really stick to that uses Java, and go from there
I do a fair bit of web development and I can say I've learnt a whole heap of languages that way (Java, C#, HTML/CSS, JS, jQuery, AJAX, MScript, C++) on the other hand... there's this language called ASP.net where I'm not even that confident on it because I've only read the book and played with it a little with no project to stick to.
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I found this too
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Just because a lot of people use a language doesn't make it the best one. For example more people use VB6 than all of Microsofts other languages combined. VB6 is an old outdated and plain terrible language for modern use yet people still use it. Also if you take a second look on the article you took that from Java is #1 on the list of langauges you should know for 2015. It also states it's the most widely used langauge overall. I refuse to switch to Python. I've already invested a ton of time in to Java and it suits my needs 100x better than Python could.
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I highly discourage learning java, python is way easier to learn and is faster to write programs with and C++ is mindbogglingly fast in comparison to both but in my opinion python is the way to go.
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I'd rather not switch after investing all this time in to it. Plus I plan on making a few Minecraft mods in the future so I'll need to know Java.
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I invested a year into java before learning Python and C++, now i don't use java at all. It was a big waste of my time.
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Each language has it's own perks and drawbacks. Personally Java is the language I feel I should be learning. I have a lot of reasons to learn Java and none to learn Python.
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wow he responds fast!
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Yeah I kept the topic open in a tab. :p
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I find that I learn best when I toss away the idea of learning straight from books or online tutorials and just mess with stuff. I'll think to myself, "I wonder how I can do that..." If I can't figure it out with logic, I'll go online and see how other people did it. Learning at your own pace is the best way to learn something. Trying to force yourself to go faster than you should will just hinder your learning.
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What I do when I have homework is I listen to music instrumentals. It works most of the time.
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You and me!
Also, to the op: You really have to learn whether programming is for you. After all, if you don't have a passion for something you're not going to have the motivation to pursue it.
Likewise with coding, you must want to endure the coding part to see what all that hard work has produced. If you find out you have a passion for it, all I can recommend is what StingRay_FTW posted. Music never fails to motivate. It helped me with my first languages, It helped me with Java, and it certainly helps me with c++.
Also, to the op: You really have to learn whether programming is for you. After all, if you don't have a passion for something you're not going to have the motivation to pursue it.
Likewise with coding, you must want to endure the coding part to see what all that hard work has produced. If you find out you have a passion for it, all I can recommend is what StingRay_FTW posted. Music never fails to motivate. It helped me with my first languages, It helped me with Java, and it certainly helps me with c++.
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I have been wondering the samething.
FIRST tutorials DO NOT HELP you will find yourself coping and having no idea what to do when you go to code for yourself so I truly DO NOT KNOW
FIRST tutorials DO NOT HELP you will find yourself coping and having no idea what to do when you go to code for yourself so I truly DO NOT KNOW
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That's exactly why I got a book instead. It explains things so much better and makes it impossible to copy and paste if it's a physical copy.
Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try that.
I usually try to do that on occasion like whenever I learn a concept I play around with it. I've yet to try just doing something without learning how to work it beforehand though so I may give that a shot.
StingRay_FTWWhat I do when I have homework is I listen to music instrumentals. It works most of the time.
Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely try that.
davidj919I find that I learn best when I toss away the idea of learning straight from books or online tutorials and just mess with stuff. I'll think to myself, "I wonder how I can do that..." If I can't figure it out with logic, I'll go online and see how other people did it. Learning at your own pace is the best way to learn something. Trying to force yourself to go faster than you should will just hinder your learning.
I usually try to do that on occasion like whenever I learn a concept I play around with it. I've yet to try just doing something without learning how to work it beforehand though so I may give that a shot.
