[Java improvement case ⑨] The limit of self-study and how to reach the next level

Introducing what kind of wall a man in his thirties who learned Java by himself encountered while learning programming, and how to overcome that wall.

Start programming after hospitalization

The reason I started programming was hospitalization. I used to run in the neighborhood every day as a hobby for jogging, but one day I fell and broke my knee while running in the mountains. I had some spare time after being hospitalized for about two weeks, so I decided to try programming that I had been interested in for some time.

The first programming language I worked on was Java. I decided Java on the advice of a friend who graduated from the graduate school of information department and got a doctorate. I heard that Java and C are good for large-scale system development to some extent. I didn't plan to do a project that would write more than a million lines of source code, but I wanted to write a program with tens of thousands of lines, so I chose Java. I glanced at a C language book at a bookstore, but I decided to use Java because it seemed to be difficult because of difficult concepts such as pointers.

Study with books instead of school

As a college student at the time, I couldn't afford it. I really wanted to go to a famous school called Digital Hollywood, but I gave up because it was difficult to pay the tuition fee. If I could afford it, I would have gone to school. The reason why the school is good is that the school has instructors who can ask questions immediately when they stumble. Anyone who is new to programming will run into obstacles. In such a case, it would be nice if a solution could be found by Google search, but it is often difficult to solve it and it goes round and round. If you ask someone who can program, you can solve it in an instant, but it takes a day to find out for yourself. ➡︎ Click here for recommended programming schools to learn Java

So I studied mainly books on my own. Of course, I searched Google for the part I didn't understand and tried to solve it. The book I was using for studying was written by Mana Takahashi in the books "Easy Java" and "Easy Java Utilization". It's 2600 yen per book, so it's reasonable for 2 books for a total of about 5000 yen. This author's book is very easy to understand, and it was helpful because he gave me a polite explanation with the feeling that I could reach the itchy place. Every time the sample code came out, I copied it into my notebook. Since no complicated program appears, there was enough space to write it in a notebook. In this way, I learned how to use Java's basic concepts such as class inheritance and methods. It took about a month to master these two books completely.

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[Easy Java 5th Edition("Easy" series)]
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(2016/3/23 14:As of 06)

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The next book I arrived at for Java beginners is the "Head first" series of Java books. The book "Head First Java 2nd Edition-Basics of Java Learned by the Head and Body" costs more than 4000 yen, but I was able to read it as Swiss because I am a type with abundant illustrations and understanding with images. .. Looking back, this book was the most interesting to study. Unlike specialized books full of dry and dry cords, there were gimmicks everywhere to entertain the reader. If you are studying for the first time, we strongly recommend using the "Head First Series".

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Copy the sample code earnestly

Now that I've learned all the Java rules, I've been looking for sample code. I thought the trick to improving was to imitate the great sample code. I typed "Java sample code" on Google, looked at the site displayed on the first page, imitated all the code that seemed interesting, and typed it into my PC. The main sites I used are sites such as "Java Program Sample Collection" and "Love Java 256 Knock". At first, I didn't understand the meaning and typed it in, but every time I typed in a line editor from the middle, I tried to think about the meaning. Then, it became clear how to make a function and the intention of setting variables.

I'm almost frustrated by debugging

With this confidence, I wanted to know how to use Java libraries and searched for the next book. I found a book called "Java Library that can be used in the field" for about 4000 yen.

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I actually wanted to use O'Reilly's best book, called a camel book, but the content was too sophisticated and it was chilling. O'Reilly's books are written for intermediate and above, so even beginners are likely to be frustrated. Caution is required.

From here was the true test. I used this book as a reference to write a program to solve simple math problems, but no matter how much code I write, bugs occur immediately. Debugging was overwhelmingly longer than writing code. I was almost frustrated and asked a friend who has a PhD in informatics, a Java professional, all the time. He solved a bug that I didn't understand in 10 hours in a matter of minutes. I was really impressed with the level of programmer masters.

After struggling with Java for about a year in this way, I finally grew up to be able to write a program of about 10,000 lines. It's still far from a full-fledged person, but it's a big difference compared to the beginning.

Learn tips from a programmer who can

After all, if you write a program, it is absolutely time-efficient to work with a programmer who can. When I'm programming, problems that I can't solve at all even if I think about it by myself come up one after another. At times like this, you can get the job done by working with a programmer who can. Java beginners should study with books and sample code, and then gradually learn from programmers while writing code in practice. It might also be good for a programming tutor. I think that the return will be many times the cost.