Need Help Getting Started

[benc1213]

Hello I am Ben and I recently have been working on learning java. I don't know much right now but would really like it if you guys had any good places to learn java and also some tips and things to use. I would really appreciate it. I am thinking if I work on java for a couple months I might be able to make a text based game like the zork series. Would it be possible to do at that level of experience?

[ra4king]

Hey Ben, welcome to the community!

There are many ways and resources to learn Java. For online resources, I recommend Bucky here, who has some awesome beginner programming videos.

By text-based do you mean command line based game, or graphical text game?

[benc1213]

Command line just to start out with just for some fun.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[ra4king]

Yeah, in a couple of months you will be able to program any CL app.

[benc1213]

Ok cool and thanks for the help. I have actually been watching his videos and I agree he is a good teacher.

[ra4king]

His Java Game Development tutorials helped me quite a lot

[benc1213]

Do you recommend using and ide and if so which one?

[ra4king]

I started out using JGrasp. It is quite good for beginners since you don't have to create packages and projects. It has some good features built-in like the debugger and CSD (control structure diagram, aka beautify your code). The only drawback is there is no Intellisense but that's for those who already have almost all the Java API classes memorized by heart

If you decide to use it, please do your eyes a favor and set the Look and Feel to Nimbus. Settings --> Look and Feel --> Nimbus

I just recently moved to Eclipse and I love it so I recommend Eclipse when you get more advanced.

[benc1213]

How much time should I be working on each video? Should I just do the script and stuff and go onto the next video or keep working on the script?

[ra4king]

Well whatever helps you the most really. Usually you would watch each video, copy what he's doing, and play with the code on your own a bit.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[ItGoesSo]

I'd highly suggest going through an actual java basic text book first. Theres a ton of good books aimed for enrolling college freshman assumed to not have any programming background. Most video game programming books assume that you've gotten at least 1 semester of java, if you skip out here its going to slow you down in the long run.

Java specific programming books
Starting out with Java alternative
http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Java-Alternate-Tony-Gaddis/dp/1576761371
Typical compsci 101 text book, I really liked the homework programming challenges, generally when I read a programming textbook after awhile I'm pretty much just copy pasting the examples and not really learning how to use em. (This book is dirt cheap since its outta print)

Thinking in Java 3rd edition,
http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads.html
This book is free off the writers website due to it being a past edition. You can get the new one for ~35$ off amazon if you think its worth it. Heard good things about it.

Core Java Volume I 8th edition.
http://www.amazon.com/Core-Java-I-Fundamentals-9th-Sun/dp/0137081898/ref=dp_ob_title_bk
I bought this book. They advertise it for beginners but really I'd rank it more beginner/intermediate. Of all of 'beginner' text books I've looked it, this one had the best 'usable real-life' code. Theres a new edition on the way according to amazon.

More game programming books
Programming Video Games For the Evil Genius
Book was pretty meh despite its high ratings on amazon. Its great for kids who just wanna take (mostly) working code and just punch it into their IDE. Writer doesn't explain much of anything that he's doing other then a handful of comments. The book does make 10+ java games that are on-par or larger then most the online tutorials.

Killer Game Programming in Java
Seems to be the java game programming goto book right now for beginner/intermediate. I just ordered a copy of it last week so can't tell you much about it. (Book assumes you equivalent to one semester of java programming)

Beginning Java Game Programming
Another intro to programming through java book. I liked the idea of what the writer did, just was poorly executed I thought. He pretty much walks you through from scratch to completion of a sub-commercial quality indie game.

Game Coding Complete
NOT JAVA. And definitely aimed at intermediates. However I felt this book was worthy of note, tons of info across a wide variety of topics. Written by Mike McShaffry, a guy who has pretty much held every role in the industry at one point or another.

And lastly, some tutorials I have stashed away in my bookmarks. (Sorry, small list. Lost the old ones!)
http://zetcode.com/tutorials/javagamestutorial/
http://www.cokeandcode.com/tutorials

Netbeans and eclipse are pretty much the goto IDE's for java. Personally, I love eclipse.

**Edit for typos

[ra4king]

I actually used a book, Java - A Beginner's Guide by Herbert Schildt, to teach myself.
However, even though I pushed myself to finish the entire thing, I hated using a book as you can get un-motivated pretty quickly.

In the end, it comes down to preference, whether you can learn by reading a book or watching cool videos online

[Kurten]

I would recommend starting out with videos, someone already posted bucky's tutorials, which is very good i might add =) But vids can't teach you everything, like it or not but you need books. They explain a lot more detail. Vids are great for demonstrating what you can use different stuff to and how to use it, but to program you need to follow many rules. Books tells you about these rules so they are worth checking out. I would recommend Head first Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates. It goes over the basics of java programming in a fun way with lots of pictures and fun explanations

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Head-First-Java-Kathy-Sierra/dp/0596009208/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301930046&sr=8-1

Good luck ^_^

[ra4king]

Head First Java! Now that would be a book I would recommend strongly

[philfrei]

One of my favorite characters in "Head First Java" is Skeptical Girl. I wonder how old she is. (Waaaay too young for me.)

HFJ was very helpful in explaining some of the conceptual stuff that left me baffled on my first pass through Core Java I. But I found their example code a little buggy. And sometimes you just want people to get to the point. But overall I did like that book. Core Java is a great reference, and I use it a lot, am glad I have it. But the "official" java tutorials are pretty great too!

http://download.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/index.html

Several folks have posted some neat tutorials here at Java-Gaming.

Was the "Beginning Java Game Programming" book by Harbour, posting an Asteroids knock-off? I tried that book and didn't learn too much from it. But I didn't have much of a foundation in Java at that point.

[ItGoesSo]

Was the "Beginning Java Game Programming" book by Harbour, posting an Asteroids knock-off? I tried that book and didn't learn too much from it. But I didn't have much of a foundation in Java at that point.

Ya, thats the one. It looks like it would be the most interesting way to use Java, however just seemed poorly executed. Maybe it was just too ambitious, you really don't get to spend enough time on every topic thats used in a game AND still have time to teach syntax

[benc1213]

Thanks everyone for the help I will still be watching bucky's videos but I am also planning on getting the head first java book to get the concepts and things learned and in my head.

[ra4king]

Good luck!!!

[benc1213]

Ok I have one last question. What would be the best book to get to start learning java Killer Game Programming in Java or Head First Java?

[ra4king]

Definitely Head First Java because, as the name suggests, Killer Game Programming in Java will assume you already have some prior Java knowledge and it will delve into game development.

[benc1213]

I am not necessarily remembering everything from bucky's videos. Is that normal?

[lhkbob]

I am not necessarily remembering everything from bucky's videos. Is that normal?

Yes, learning to program is like learning a new way of thinking and a new language at the same time

[ra4king]

It is quite normal, which is why you've got to play around with the code. Don't rush through all the videos, but go slowly. Use what you just learned from each video to make something new and see if it works. Experiment

[ReBirth]

Try and Error. That's my best way to learn something. It takes much time but hey, internet there to help you