Hi Lloyd, depending on who you ask there are many different answers to this question. However, a great way to get started is by reading the Java coding conventions Sun encourages -- most all Java code you see will roughly follow these. These conventions fall along the lines of standard Java documentation, which is the next place you should look when seeking advice about Java. As a rule of thumb, check Java documentation first and goggle second.

If you really want to practice coding or look at a bunch of "good" code, try hacking away at your favorite open-source project (I'd suggest Tomcat, http://jakarta.apache.org/tomcat, or JBoss, http://jboss.org). You'll find lots of code that will show how general Java code usually looks, and you will also be able to see lots of examples of clever coding tricks. Plus, if you can really understand what is going on in a decent sized open-source project, odds are your Java skills are up to snuff.

Some Links

• Java 2 Documentation - http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/index.html
• Java Coding Conventions - http://java.sun.com/docs/codeconv/html/CodeConvTOC.doc.html
• Java Language Specification - http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/second_edition/html/j.title.doc.html
• Java Virtual Machine Specification - http://java.sun.com/docs/books/vmspec/2nd-edition/html/VMSpecTOC.doc.html

Jayson Falkner
jayson@jspinsider.com
http://www.jspbook.com