Java Programming, An Introduction

Java is a programming language developed by Sun in 1995. It is designed to be platform independent. This means that the same program can run regardless of whether you use Windows, MacOS, Linux or a cell phone. To do this there must be a Java interpreter installed on the system where the program should run.
Java allows you to write programs without having to go out and buy something. It only requires some time and patience.

Java can be used for making interactive parts of web sites. It is known as applets. This may be small games or useful tools. Java should not be confused with JavaScript, which can also be used for websites. These are two different things.
Java is OOP. Object Oriented Programming. It's a slightly different way of thinking than the "old fashioned" programming language. There could for example have two variables X and Y without having defined any relation between them. In OOP, it could be that you have the object "point" which has x and y as variables that determine point coordinates. It's a little hard to explain very briefly. You probably should try it to understand it.

You can get started with programming Java applications without buying any software. Just as HTML can be written in a plain text editor like notepad in Windows, you can also write Java applications. It just requires that you change the suffix on the file extension from Txt to Java.

/ / Comment
public class HelloWorld
{ public static void main (String [] args)
{ System.out.println ("Hello World!"); } }

The above small program is probably one of the simplest you can make. It prints out the text "Hello World".

To be able to run your Java program, you need to change it to byte-code. The tool to do this is called JDK, Java Development Kit. The latest version is called JDK 6 Update 23. It can be downloaded free from oracle.com

Now, it is not enough with notepad and compiler. It is also necessary to have a book on Java. There are many sources available on the net.

It is a matter of taste whether you liked the somewhat primitive method of writing in notepad or whether you'd rather use a large package with many utilities and guides. But if you want to learn how to program from scratch, I would recommend this simple tool. It is perhaps inconvenient to write all the code, but you learn something by doing it.

Java games are used on many pages and are usually developed by professional programmers. It is also be possible to make a simple game if you are a hobby programmer. When I taught myself Java for a few years ago I made a little Java game to gain some practice in programming.