Not many reviews have been written on this one so far, so I dont know what is really expected to write but let me do my bit....
I have been a Java programmer so far, but I shall try to write stuff less interwoven around Java and more around general programming.
Well newbies, First and Foremost....A warm welcome to the world of programming.
Its one of the most satisfying moments to see your program execute and generate the results you want. The thrill of getting a program compiled and executed after struggling with it for a while is a unique experience.
Lets Start with the dos and donts....
first and foremost, never feel programming is boring, its a power to create some new entity from scratch, that entity can be a GUI menu, or a simple command based program that adds two numbers or even adding functionality to an otherwise boring static webpage.
Always begin programming with your basics clear, I dont agree personally with some people who feel, forget the books and theory and just get started with coding.They follow the school of thought that you can become an expert by groping and stumbling your way through compilation and runtime errors. I would suggest, be well prepared with the basics first.
-Before embarking on simple programming, try to understand the basic building blocks, the necessary evil of all programming languages : be it the language fundamentals, operators, control structures or the loops.
With the internet becoming popular and cheaper day by day, its needless to say that it has become highly accessible to people everywhere. Become a member of some Forums/message boards that deal with beginners trying to learn and code a particular language, you can post your messages and receive responses and get valuable advice.
Occasionally take help from a techie, let go off your ego, at the same time dont be too dependent on him/her or you might frequently continue the practice.
Be patient, learning something new always takes time, at the same time use all the time you took to learn and master the tool smartly. Make Technical notes. About how you solved a recurring error , steps you followed when something coincidentally clicked when you were least expecting it to happen, about other useful tips you discovered while programming . It helps ! You might end up solving the same nagging error for someone else. -
A special mention for new Java programmers. Read well about classes and objects before typing your first object oriented program.
Set classpaths and paths carefully, dont get bogged down by the painful errors that keeps popping up when you least want it them to. i.e
1) Exception in thread ’main’ java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:
2) cannot resolve symbol
3) ’class’ or ’interface’ expected...and many more....
For java programmers, do keep checking Java forums at the sun site, most of my problems got solved by just reading the forums.
Add comments within your programs, it will always help you remember what the program was all about.
Also try to code using coding standards, newbies will always like to jump to action first. i.e to see if their program compiled without errors and got executed, but in the long run it pays to write neat code using correct standards.
Lastly, dont panic when you see too many errors the first time you code, it may be because you missed out a comma or forgot to put the closing brace, check your program from head to toe with a cool mind when you see a sudden rain of errors.
I shall stop here now. Hope I did some justice to the topic. Wishing all new/old/expert Programmers the best.