Java help?

I've learned Pascal, C++, and VB, but I'm learning Java this term and it's so confusing. It's like working backwards and it doesn't seem to use top down design. Don't even get me started on objects...those things are just weird.:)

Are they any good free resources on the net that can help a beginner with Java?

Yeah, if you are used to structure-oriented programming in C++ ect, then the transition to Java might seem a bit different. The only real difference between java and c++(from a design standpoint) is that java forces you to use object oriented programming. If you do a google search for some java tutorials, you should find more than what you need.

To be effective in Java, you really need to get the concept of object-oriented programming. It's kind of possible to do some top-down things in just a main method of some class, but you won't be taking advantage of everything OOP has to offer.

Here's a link to Sun's tutorials and code examples: http://java.sun.com/learning/tutorial/index.html

The OOP style of programming had me really confused for the first few weeks of class, then one day everything went "click!" and it was all better. The main thing you should do is read a lot of example programs from textbooks, they usually have pretty good structure and very good documentation that will tell you what everything does.

I remember the thing that most people had the most trouble with was that "your code isn't the object, the code is defining the objects".

Thanks for the link and encouragement guys!:D