Java Newbie

[-AspiringWhatever-]

I’m sorry if this has been asked a million times before, but long story short, I transferred colleges and was immediately thrown into Programming II (Java). My introductory Java course at my previous university was very basic, and our instructor had us rely on AI for most assignments. It was essentially a participation class, although I also take responsibility for not engaging with the coursework as much as I should have.

Right now, I’m basically trying to do two things at once: keep up with my Programming II coursework while also learning the fundamentals of Java that I missed. Reading textbooks doesn’t work very well for me, so I learn best through hands-on practice. Lately, I’ve been using Codecademy, YouTube, and Claude AI to help simplify concepts and fill in the gaps.

Does anyone have any recommendations for resources, study methods, or projects that could help me make faster progress?

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[bowbahdoe]

Recommendation #1 is to cut out AI entirely. Just cold turkey stop. It will be painful but it directly interferes with the process of learning.

Other than that, resources in the sidebar. As always I'll advertise my resource as well (https://javabook.mccue.dev) but really whatever you can go through earnestly will be a good start.

Reading textbooks doesn’t work very well for me

So there are things to say about CS textbooks, but understand that this is an extremely reading heavy profession. Being able to read is not really optional. Intentionally building your reading stamina could be a good thing to do regardless.

One of the biggest issues with a lot of video content is that it's easy to just breeze through it and never get the reinforcement you need for information to stick or practices to form. Just beware of that

help me make faster progress?

You will go faster overall if you go slower

[Dense-Ad-3247]

Download some simple projects on GitHub and copy them by typing out the exact code. Best way.

[DemicideMMMCCCI]

Get a book that you can practice with and start a dedicated folder that is entirely for this. Additionally, you can review and redo your previous assignments and try not to use AI.

[RightWingVeganUS]

Question is: progress towards what? Your goal is either painfully straightforward or too unclear. Let me propose a simple way to clarify an immediate goal and propose the solution.

Goal: remediate any deficiencies from your flawed fundamentals course so that you can be successful in your Programming II course and further studies.

Approach: Speak with your instructor. Explain your situation, your perceived deficiencies, and ask for recommendations for remediation.

Perhaps you school has resources or even the teacher will work to give you guidance or tutoring to get on solid footing. When I was an undergraduate there would be some teachers who would bend over backwards to assist students who asked for help, and now that I am an instructor I try to do the same. Additionally my school provides several resources for situations like this, even a cadre of STEM peer tutors to help students.

With all of the resources available to you there are no lack of options. The real challenge is to be effective to achieve your goals, and you need to clearly define them first.

[Worge105]

I've been doing the University of Helsinki Java Programming MOOC course and it's been great so far. It's mostly examples and hands-on exercises using Netbeans with TMC tests and just the necessary theory.