A question about Java...

[Ark86]

I am taking a programming class this year and it is pretty easy for me (intro to java). I have used javascript before. We are using this wierd robot "world" to program in. It has functions like "move" and "turnleft". I am just wondering how you write the classes that actually "show" the picture on screen, not just tell it what to do. Because I would like to try to write some of my own programs (visual programs, not dos).

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[DeadKen]

Originally posted by Ark86:
I am taking a programming class this year and it is pretty easy for me (intro to java). I have used javascript before. We are using this wierd robot "world" to program in. It has functions like "move" and "turnleft". I am just wondering how you write the classes that actually "show" the picture on screen, not just tell it what to do. Because I would like to try to write some of my own programs (visual programs, not dos).

You might hop over to borland and check out JBuilder.

I think they have a free license which would work for students.

You might be able to work with icons. Just make a picture of the robot in each direction and move it around.

[Ark86]

You can't just write the code for something like that?

Just to specify, I want to write code that will actually move the robot on screen. Like actually write the function move or turnleft, not call it.

------------------
Please visit my new website! I have my own forums too. It would be cool if someone could post on those.

http://arkrealm.b0x.com

My new computer:

Celeron 700 mhz
Sound Blaster Live!
128mb ram
Case with lots of ports in the FRONT. Really cool.
32mb Radeon LE video card
30gb western digital hd
Delta 12x DVD-Rom drive
Acer 10x8x32 CD-RW drive

[DeadKen]

Originally posted by Ark86:
You can't just write the code for something like that?

Just to specify, I want to write code that will actually move the robot on screen. Like actually write the function move or turnleft, not call it.

Of course you can, but it takes a lot more to set up a gui well in Java then most beginner think.

[bIOHZRd]

That robot class is pretty sweet. The robot I made conquered all, yet, that program has its learning limit pretty low. You should be moving onto something else, as that is just a base to help you grasp the concepts of functions and stuff.

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[Ark86]

Yeah, I know. I already know all these "basics" of programming. We are 3/4 of the way through the course and all we have covered is the basic syntax of java, if statements, and how return works. I already knew all of that because I already know JavaScript. Should I get a book and start looking at that?

------------------
Please visit my new website! I have my own forums too. It would be cool if someone could post on those.

http://arkrealm.b0x.com

My new computer:

Celeron 700 mhz
Sound Blaster Live!
128mb ram
Case with lots of ports in the FRONT. Really cool.
32mb Radeon LE video card
30gb western digital hd
Delta 12x DVD-Rom drive
Acer 10x8x32 CD-RW drive

[DeadKen]

Originally posted by Ark86:
Yeah, I know. I already know all these "basics" of programming. We are 3/4 of the way through the course and all we have covered is the basic syntax of java, if statements, and how return works. I already knew all of that because I already know JavaScript. Should I get a book and start looking at that?

JavaScript has almost nothing in common with Java.

Understanding "the fundamentals" is like saying you understand 15% of the language.

[Ark86]

Yes, but what I mean is just the syntax and if and for loops.

------------------
Please visit my new website! I have my own forums too. It would be cool if someone could post on those.

http://arkrealm.b0x.com

My new computer:

Celeron 700 mhz
Sound Blaster Live!
128mb ram
Case with lots of ports in the FRONT. Really cool.
32mb Radeon LE video card
30gb western digital hd
Delta 12x DVD-Rom drive
Acer 10x8x32 CD-RW drive

[e_dawg]

JavaScript and Java are completely different, Java is much deeper than JavaScript, and requires a totally different thought process. Did they teach you OOD before this class?

[Ark86]

Nope.

------------------
Please visit my new website! I have my own forums too. It would be cool if someone could post on those.

http://arkrealm.b0x.com

My new computer:

Celeron 700 mhz
Sound Blaster Live!
128mb ram
Case with lots of ports in the FRONT. Really cool.
32mb Radeon LE video card
30gb western digital hd
Delta 12x DVD-Rom drive
Acer 10x8x32 CD-RW drive

[biosx]

I just want to support DeadKen's statement on saying you know the fundamentals of a language is saying you understand 15% of it.

I read K&R one summer and I learned everything I could from that book. I thought I was so l33t in C after reading that book. I went around saying I knew C. Well it turns out that I knew about 20% of the language.

You have to remember that there are special areas to a language. For example, Socket programming, DBase programming, and OS programming/scripting. All of those can be done with C and I know only a little of Socket programming.

You just have to decide on what you are going to specialize in.

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[e_dawg]

Originally posted by Ark86:
Nope.

Java is a completely object-oriented language, you couldn't know it very well if you were not trained in the basic concepts that the language is designed upon -- it is nothing like javascript, or for that matter, any standard structured language...

...I must restrain myself...

[e_dawg]

To expand on biosx and DeadKen's points, anyone with a good grasp of basic programming concepts can handle learning most new languages in under a month... many in under two weeks, and some of us can be at least dangerous within a few hours.

All programming is based on concepts that are very basic -- all you have to do is find the commands that are used in that specific language for these concepts, and you can use the language. (Another reason that I have always contended that the average high-school graduate could be trained to code, while it takes more skill (which most good programmers waste on coding) to design something for the coders to type in... this is especially true with Java, since all OO design methodologies I have used translate almost directly to Java.)

I am running out of change in my pocket... Just my $0.02.

[DeadKen]

Originally posted by e_dawg:
To expand on biosx and DeadKen's points, anyone with a good grasp of basic programming concepts can handle learning most new languages in under a month... many in under two weeks, and some of us can be at least dangerous within a few hours.

Try LISP, FORTH or APL!