In my experience, learning how to program (in typical computer science classes) can be very difficult. The curriculum tends to be boring, abstract, and unattached to “real-world” coding. Owing to how fast technology progresses, computer science classes tend to teach material that is very quickly out of date and out of touch. I believe that teaching programming could be much simpler, and I hope this book achieves that goal.
There’s going to be a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor throughout this book, but this first part is serious. Don’t worry, it gets better.
Problem-Solving
Before you learn to program, the task can seem rather daunting, much like looking at a mountain before you climb it. However, over time, you will realize that programming is really about problem-solving.
On your journey toward learning to code, as with so much in life, you will encounter many obstacles. You may have heard it before, but it really is true: the path to success is to try, try, and try again. People who persevere the most tend to be the most successful people.
Programming is fraught with trial and error. Although things will get easier over time, you’ll never be right all the time. So, much as with most things in life, you must be patient, diligent, and curious to be successful.
About This Book
This book is organized into several chapters, beginning with the most basic concepts. If you already understand a concept, you can safely move ahead to the next chapter. Although this book concentrates on Java, it also refers to other languages, such as Groovy, Scala, and JavaScript, so you will gain a deeper understanding of concepts common to all programming languages.
Tips Text styled like this provides additional information that you may find helpful.
Info Text styled this way usually refers the curious reader to additional information.
Warnings Text such as this cautions the wary reader. Many have fallen along the path of computer programming.
Exercises This is an exercise. We learn best by doing, so it’s important that you try these out.