How can I become a Java programmer

Question

I have started to study Java by Thomas Wu's book (java introdution)
I find it very easy to understand, and now I want to get some books or anyother information that can teach me everthing about Java.
I would like to follow good steps to inprove it.
Colud you tell me a good plan, please?
thank you.

Answer 1

So, I guess by your examples all you need to be a good
programmer is to know how to use different types of
collections? The general concept of data structures and algorithms is alot different than Java collections. I've done this kind of programming in C, C++ AND Java. But, to use your example, even familiarity with Collections doesn't teach you HOW to use them. I can't tell you how many times I've seen colleagues of mine use parallel lists to implement a dictionary instead of a HashMap/HashTable. As I said previously, it will work but it won't ever be fast or the best solution.
And how exactly did YOU learn what
approach works best for those situations? Isn't
wasn't experience, was it?
Granted, I have a fair amount of programming experience but before I'd worked a day as a programmer, I had extensive exposure to order notation (Big O) and algorithms. I knew how array based lists differed from linked lists in terms of the complexity (runtime) of various types of operations and could tell you the best implemenation of a List to use for a required usage pattern. I knew how hashing algorithms worked and what the importance was of things like load factor and collision resolution.
Furthermore, I never said that they shouldn't take
classes. All I said was that if they want a way to
learn but can't take classes that they should come up
with progressively more challenging projects to work
on. In my NSFHO, if they "can't" take classes then they really are getting into the wrong profession. I suppose that you wouldn't mind if your dentist or doctor had no formal education but had done alot of "homestudy"? You may argue that there is no comparison but I disagree. The price that an employeer will pay to fix poorly engineered code is exhorbitant, especially if it is dealing with monetary transactions (e.g. ecommerce). This could be a huge financial liability.
Having said degree, and having
programmed everything from as low level as Linux
kernel code in C to high level as JDBC web apps in
Java, I can say that you learn, remember, and are able
to reuse skills FAR BETTER when you are forced to look
for the info yourself, and not just told what to do.Agreed. In none of my advanced courses was I "told" how to do something, only "what" needed to be done. The difference, as I see it, is that I have significantly more tools in my toolbox that I can use to approach a given problem, as I'm sure you do. As they say, when all you have is a hammer, all problems look like nails.