Introduction
If you are coming to UEA to study on many of our MSc courses, you are expected
to be able to write simple programs in Java.
This page describes tools and resources to help you learn simple Java programming.
A basic working knowledge of Java is essential for students enrolled on:
- MSc Advanced Computing Science,
- MSc Games Development,
highly desirable for students enrolled on
- MSc Information Systems,
- MSc Knowledge Discovery and Datamining
Tools and resources (free or low cost)
The choice of editor or IDE for program development is personal, so we do not strongly recommend a
particular product. The School of Computing Sciences uses the NetBeans IDE in all ts teaching labs.
However all the editors and IDEs listed here have been used and recommended by students at UEA.
Editors
IDEs
Java Development Kit
Make sure that the version of the JDK that you use is the same as that used by the tutorial
or textbook.
[March 2007: Many books and tutorials use Java 5 but the current JDK is Java 6]
- Mac
- Linux/Windows
(The JDK is also available with a bundled copy of the Netbeans IDE)
Tutorials and courses
These are free but you may need to register.
Textbooks
Kathy Sierra, Bert Bates. Head First Java, Second Edition, O'Reilly 2005
A light-hearted and somewhat unconventional style which many students like.
Patrick Niemeyer, Jonathan Knudsen. Learning Java, Third Edition, O'Reilly 2005
A well designed, comprehensive text, with lots of examples and supporting materials.
Ideal for people who've programmed a little in another language.
A free online book:
David J. Eck. Introduction to Programming Using Java, Fifth Edition
http://math.hws.edu/javanotes/
Other resources