Dana Nourie's Blog

Dana Nourie is a Sun Microsystems staff writer and editorial manager of the Java SE hub, the New to Java Programming Center, Java Technology Fundamentals, and Core Tech Tips. She also gives chats for developers in the Sun Developer Playground in Second Life.

Developers in Second Life, a Virtual Community

I've written a little about virtual worlds in some of my previous blogs, and this morning I'm excited to announce I'll be working more with the developer community in Second Life for Sun.

In the past, I have given chats to developers on various topics of Java programming, especially to beginners. These are always fun events for me because the developer community in Second Life is so enthusiastic about learning the Java platform, and they are so appreciative of the time Sun employees spend talking to them in SL.

This brings me to why I found environments like SL so valuable to our company and the community at large: communication. Most of my interaction with developers is in the form of email: responses I get directly from articles and blogs, and comments we get in the feedback form on the site. Occasionally, I speak with developers at conferences, like JavaOne. But the atmosphere of a virtual world is quite different, and in my experience, encourages dialog in a wonderful way.

While it's true we are not person to person in the material sense, we are avatar to avatar, which brings in new dynamics. Some might argue that this is so artificial as to be considered ridiculous, but I have to argue that it brings comfortable anonymity to those who might otherwise be shy, uncomfortable speaking in large groups, sneaking in Java technology on the sly outside of their current jobs, or just otherwise not social. In addition, those who are more social and comfortable are not held back in anyway. Lastly, virtual worlds are just darned convenient and bring people together who otherwise would never meet because of geographical distance, time constraints, etc.

Sun's space in Second Life provides us the opportunity to share our technologies and programs with a wider audience of developers, but even more importantly it allows us to talk to you directly, or at least avatar to avatar, to get your feedback and thoughts on what we're doing, how to use our technologies, and how we can help you grow your business and careers. I personally have found it exciting and enlightening to talk to developers in this way and get your feedback, hear your questions and concerns, and have the opportunity to respond in kind. These interactions in Second Life are two-way with synergy. I believe we all benefit from the interaction.

As a new representative of the developer community in Second Life, I want to hear from you about what kind of interactions you hope to get from Sun in the future, what types of chats and events you'd like to see us have, and how we can improve your inworld experience. My name is Dana Oceanlane in Second Life, and that is my avatar in the pix here in the blog.

I'll look forward to seeing your avatars inworld!

Dana Nourie aka Dana Oceanlane

Wombat Object Basics

Java programming is easy to learn. All Java programs are made up of objects just like the world around you. And Java objects do things with each other like you do things with objects wherever you are.

This article explains what Java objects are and how they interact with each other. You will get familiar with some basic programming terminology as well. This article is aimed at anyone interested in Java programming who is between the ages of 10-100, and has no programming experience.

The best way to learn object basics is to look at a Java program. So, to follow along with this article, you will need the following:

• The Java SE software must be installed on your computer
• Greenfoot must be installed on your computer

Open Greenfoot and let's get started!

Next, click on Scenario in the top menu, choose Open, select wombats, then click Open. You should see something like Figure 1 below:

Figure 1. Wombat Scenario

This program will be made up of several Java objects: World, wombatWorld, Actor, Wombat, Leaf.

Compare the Wombat World to the real world: We live on the object planet Earth. On the Earth object are Continent objects and Ocean objects. On the Continent objects, there are City objects, House objects, and People objects. And many more objects.

Read the rest of this article . . .

Young Developer Learning Path

Learning the Java platform is an adventure. There is so much you can do with Java technologies. Yet, figuring out what you want to do and where to start is the first hurdle you need to clear. This article describes the tools you can use to learn Java programming. You decide which tool to start with based on what you currently know. After reading about the tools, you'll discover resources to learn about the technologies, and the details of the Java programming language.

Figure 1. Greenfoot Lunarlander

The adventure of learning the Java platform should be fun, clear, and exciting. Start with one of the tools listed below, work your way into the next tool, and include the resources as you feel ready. Before you know it, you'll be creating exciting Java applications.

Before you read about the tools and resources, you need the Java Standard Edition (Java SE) for any of the tools listed below to work.

Download Java SE

Once Java SE is installed on your computer, you are ready to consider the various teaching tools.

Which tool you decide to use depends on what you already know about programming, and specifically Java programming. All of the tools listed here are designed to show you programming visually instead of just a bunch of confusing lines of code. The tools demonstrate the relationships between objects (you'll learn about objects within the tools), and how to make those objects interact and do things. Yet, each tool has been designed with a certain audience in mind.

If you start with no programming experience and move from one tool to the next, the basic learning path is: Greenfoot > BlueJ > the NetBeans IDE BlueJ Edition, as shown in Figure 2:

Figure 2. Tools Learning Path

Many of you, however, may know some programming, or you may know a little of another programming language, or maybe you've taken a class or two but need greater understanding. The descriptions of each tool below will help you decide which tool is best for you based on where are you are starting on your learning path now.

Each of the tools helps you visualize what is happening when you create a program. They help you see the objects and interactions so you can better understand the abstract concepts. All are intended to help you learn Java programming in a fun, clear way.

Greenfoot [Download]

Greenfoot is aimed at high school level (13+), but that doesn't mean someone younger or older won't benefit from it. Basically, Greenfoot is aimed at school level programming. The emphasis is to get something exciting and fun on screen very quickly. It's an easy entry into programming, for people who want to see what programming is like. It's great for people who have had no prior interest in programming. Greenfoot is fun, it's exciting, and it generates interest because it's specialized for building graphical 2D applications. This makes what you create visually fun. It's intended to draw you in to programming. Once you're hooked, you can graduate on to BlueJ, and then later to the NetBeans IDE BlueJ Edition.

Download Quick Intro Tutorial

BlueJ [Download]

BlueJ is aimed more at intro university level. It assumes that you know that you are interested in learning programming, and you want to do it in an organized way. BlueJ is generic. It can be used to develop any kind of application. BlueJ teaches the fundamentals of objects, methods, and fields, and shows you visually the relationships between everything you create. You learn the nuts and bolts of the Java programming language, and can also see what is happening visually. Special emphasis is placed on visualization and interaction techniques to create a highly interactive environment that encourages experimentation and exploration.

Download The BlueJ Tutorial

NetBeans IDE BlueJ Edition [Download]

BlueJ is an environment specifically aimed at beginning programmers. It offers educational tools, such as visualization and interaction facilities that greatly aid the learning of object-oriented concepts. While BlueJ covers the introductory phase of learning to program, and NetBeans offers powerful tools for professional developers, the inevitable step from one into the other has been a difficult barrier for students - until now.

This tool offers a seamless migration path for students that supports the switch from educational tools into a full-featured, professional IDE. The BlueJ plug-in adds two significant features to the NetBeans IDE:

• It allows NetBeans to open, work with, and create BlueJ projects in the BlueJ-native format (without converting them to-and-from the NetBeans IDE standard projects), so that you can do some of your work in the NetBeans IDE,and some back in BlueJ, wherever you feel comfortable working.
• It adds a BlueJ View tab to the NetBeans Project Window, which gives a familiar view of your BlueJ projects.

Download The Netbeans BlueJ Plug-in Tutorial

• An extended tutorial by Dana Nourie.
• A video on NetBeans/BlueJ from the Sun Developer Network.
• A set of Lab Notes to help in the transition from BlueJ, and show a few of the facilities that the NetBeans IDE offers to programmers.
• If you really want to see how far you can take the Zuul-for-NetBeans project, check out Brian Leonard's excellent Zuul everywhere tutorial.

Once you are using BlueJ or the NetBeans BlueJ Edition, you'll also need to learn the basics of the Java programming language. Your best resource for this is The Java Tutorial. Don't let these online tutorials overwhelm you. Take it little by little as you work through projects in the tool you are using. The Java Tutorial teaches the syntax of the Java programming language as well as how to use the thousands of classes available to you.

Bookmark the New to Java Programming Center. Articles and tutorials posted in the center are aimed at learning developers, and are updated often. The level of programming covered varies from beginning to intermediate. The Learning Tab in the center also has a list of articles and tutorials to get you started that should be helpful in the beginning of your learning path. Young Developers is designed specifically for people 13 years old and up.

Additionally, you can subscribe to Java Technology Fundamentals through convenient RSS feeds. Articles aimed at beginners to intermediate programmers go out in the feed several times a month. Some of these are articles that were published on java.sun.com, some are lessons from the Java Tutorial, and some are specifically written for Java Technology Fundamentals and the New to Java Programming Center. All are designed to help you learn the Java platform.

If you have a Facebook account, be sure to Become a Fan of the Getting Started with Java Programming page and visit it regularly, as new content is added automatically through RSS feeds.

When your programming skills are more intermediate, then also consider subscribing to Core Tech Tips. Like Java Technology Fundamentals, Core Tech Tips go out several times a month, but these programming tips are aimed at intermediate to advanced Java developers.

Choose your learning tool, use the resources, start programming, and have fun!

Also see the Young Developers page.

Getting Started with Java Programming in Facebook

Now Facebook users have a page to lead them to content that can help them learn Java programming. Log in to your Facebook account and Become a Fan of  Get Started with Java Programming!

September 2008

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