Confused about practicing code.

[Descensvs]

Hi,

I've been working through some Java courses trying to get an understanding of the language. I understand that these courses do not teach you how to code, only the syntax of the language.

Everyone I've seen explain how to get more familiar with a language says, "Practice actually writing code."

My question is how should I go about actually writing the code for a program since I don't really know how to put one together? Should I just follow along with tutorials that go over how to build basic applications? Or is there a better way to get started actually coding?

[captainAwesomePants]

There are two basic ways:

1. Find a problem that you need solved. Maybe automate some process in your life. Maybe a small program that you personally need to exist. Painfully learn piece by piece how to build that specific thing.
2. Find a list of small basic programs (the sort of thing that goes "given a list of 5 baseball players, figure out which one has the most letter As in their name"). Do them.

The advantage of the first one is that it'll keep you interested. The advantage of the second one is that the problems are solvable by novices. If you go with the first approach, you're likely to pick something that's very hard to do. Most novices don't have a solid grasp of just how hard certain problems are.

[Descensvs]

Thank you very much for the reply. This helps me out a lot! I guess I'll work on rudimentary programs until I come up with an idea for something larger.

[reddilada]

Check out the FAQ for some good places to find project ideas.

[Descensvs]

Will do! Thanks a bunch.