hacker.org

I've decided that I have to start some forums concerning certain topics. Because this site has this 'hacker' theme, some people here must know some computer stuff, right? Let's talk about the language Java introduced by James Gosling of Sun Microsystems. Anyone who has problems with their Java programming can come to me for advice.

I'll awnser questions about writting games in Java, and offer some support to those who want to learn how to make 3D graphics.

Quite honestly, I know some of basic and even less of python, so I would love to learn java but I am not really sure where to start. Another question, is it free?

Yes, you can learn java free. all you really need is a text editor and some tutorials or books from the library.

We are talking about java and not javaSCRIPT right?

Sorry, I was thinking of JS. you should be able to JDK from sun. also eclipse is an open source kind of visual studio for java i believe.

Java is free to develop and use indeed. The JDK (=Java Development Kit) is a free download on Sun's site, containing the standard libs and a compiler, however most people use IDE's for their development (nice coloring, debugging, auto-complete, etc; definitely beats Notepad ), and most of those IDEs come together with the JDK.

As plope said, Eclipse is one of the most-used for Java, together with NetBeans and BlueJ (however I only have experience with Eclipse, since I use it for C++-development as well).

Concerning tutorials: I'm afraid I can be of little help here. I've had a basic course and then used google and the JavaDoc (a reference containing all classes/functions from the stdlibs) to find what I needed. I've also had experience with OO in C++ before starting Java, so reading up on the principles of Object-Oriëntation couldn't hurt imo.

Thanks to all, this is really informative. I can probably start on this when I get time.

Unfortunately for me, I was didn't catch up that quick with this fourm. Yes, I'm talking about Java, first introduced by Sun Microsystems, not Javascript, introduced by Netscape and Sun.

Java is a pretty straightforward language, and best of all, it's free! To start you'll need the Java Development Kit (JDK), which includes many tools including a compiler (javac), a Java Virtual Machine to run your programs (java), and many other tools that'll help you. All of these tools are availible from the Java Sun website, reached by java.sun.com. From that site, move over 'Downloads' and select 'Java SE'. Scroll down and download the Java SE Development Kit. It should be named something like JDK 6 Update 15, but don't excpect the 15 to stay for long. Hit 'Download'. Simply install it and you're ready to go. Oh, one more thing: I reccomend you change your Enviornment Variables to be able to easily access the compiler. Add this line to your PATH enviornment variable: "C:\Program Files\Java\jdk*your jdk version*\bin" XP users can change their enviornment variables by right clicking My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Enviornment Variables. If you're not familiar with doing so, backup your computer before attempting this.
Happy coding!