Java Programming Language

[namarino]

Hey guys! I'm getting ready to go into the part II of my Intro to Computer science class (we're learning java basically) and I had a couple of questions. The professor said that we were going to be studying the Java API. What exactly is an API and what does it do? And secondly, what exactly is an "object oriented" language? My professor from the first semester couldn't explain things for shit.....Youtube was my teacher first semester. And on an unrelated note, do programmers know the entirety of what's in a programming language? Do they know every aspect of a particular language or is there too much to memorize? Thanks a lot for your answers guys!

 

 

Oh and on a completely unrelated note, how easy is Free Basic and is it even remotely useful?

[creativename]

object oriented language.. i think he means that java is used to create objects. ObjectDraw makes it easy to draw graphics compared to C++ or something. Once you get the hang of it Java is incredibly easy to get things done. It's pretty straight forward.

[SSL]

object oriented language.. i think he means that java is used to create objects. ObjectDraw makes it easy to draw graphics compared to C++ or something. Once you get the hang of it Java is incredibly easy to get things done. It's pretty straight forward.

 

"Object oriented" has nothing to do with graphics.

 

Objects in a programming language are a type of structure that groups together related variables (fields) and functions (methods) into a "class". This is opposed to procedural programming, which is composed solely of functions and procedures.

 

An API is an "Application - Program Interface". Basically, building blocks which don't do much on their own but when put together form a full application or program. Often they provide the "controls" that one application uses to interact with another.

 

The longer you use a particular language the more you will naturally learn and memorize. However, I doubt there is any programmer out there that ever stops needing to refer to the documentation.

 

Personally, I think "studying" a specific language or API is a waste of time. As I said above, you naturally learn things about a language as you use it, referring to the documentation and tutorials. It's better to have a solid understanding of the core ideas such as data structures, algorithms, and design patterns which are generally not tied to any particular language, or even computers in general. If you know those things you will be able to use any language more effectively.

[namarino]

"Object oriented" has nothing to do with graphics.

 

Objects in a programming language are a type of structure that groups together related variables (fields) and functions (methods) into a "class". This is opposed to procedural programming, which is composed solely of functions and procedures.

 

An API is an "Application - Program Interface". Basically, building blocks which don't do much on their own but when put together form a full application or program. Often they provide the "controls" that one application uses to interact with another.

 

The longer you use a particular language the more you will naturally learn and memorize. However, I doubt there is any programmer out there that ever stops needing to refer to the documentation.

 

Personally, I think "studying" a specific language or API is a waste of time. As I said above, you naturally learn things about a language as you use it, referring to the documentation and tutorials. It's better to have a solid understanding of the core ideas such as data structures, algorithms, and design patterns which are generally not tied to any particular language, or even computers in general. If you know those things you will be able to use any language more effectively.

Thanks so much for your answer, it was really helpful. I think you're absolutely right about not studying a particular language. You have to start somewhere obviously, like with Java which is what I'm currently doing, but once you understand the basic concepts behind the language, learning other languages is a breeze. I took a look at Free Basic on Youtube and, having studied Java, I picked it up within in a couple of minutes. I'm putting together a resume currently for an internship that I'm applying to. I've understand Java very well but could I put that I'm proficient without having a complete knowledge of the language as far as APIs go? 

[SSL]

Thanks so much for your answer, it was really helpful. I think you're absolutely right about not studying a particular language. You have to start somewhere obviously, like with Java which is what I'm currently doing, but once you understand the basic concepts behind the language, learning other languages is a breeze. I took a look at Free Basic on Youtube and, having studied Java, I picked it up within in a couple of minutes. I'm putting together a resume currently for an internship that I'm applying to. I've understand Java very well but could I put that I'm proficient without having a complete knowledge of the language as far as APIs go? 

 

Employers are more interested in what you have done than what you may or may not know how to do. Rather than saying you are "proficient in Java", give a real example of a project that you did and mention that it was written in Java. Your proficiency will be evident in the quality of that work.

 

More generally, employers are more likely to ask about broader or more abstract concepts, like how to implement a linked list or how to handle a dataset that doesn't fit into main memory. They are not going to care so much about things that you can look up in a manual.

[namarino]

Employers are more interested in what you have done than what you may or may not know how to do. Rather than saying you are "proficient in Java", give a real example of a project that you did and mention that it was written in Java. Your proficiency will be evident in the quality of that work.

 

More generally, employers are more likely to ask about broader or more abstract concepts, like how to implement a linked list or how to handle a dataset that doesn't fit into main memory. They are not going to care so much about things that you can look up in a manual.

Ok gotchya, that makes sense. In my situation though, I'm only a freshman in college and I will have only take 2 semesters of computer science by the time the summer rolls around. To this point, the most complex program I've written is a hangman game and obviously the person doing the hiring is not going to find that very impressive. What determines whether you get an internship like this? What are they looking for? Because presumably, an internship is a learning experience and they are not going to be relying on you to work on any huge projects. Thanks for your answer, I really appreciate it!

[SSL]

Ok gotchya, that makes sense. In my situation though, I'm only a freshman in college and I will have only take 2 semesters of computer science by the time the summer rolls around. To this point, the most complex program I've written is a hangman game and obviously the person doing the hiring is not going to find that very impressive. What determines whether you get an internship like this? What are they looking for? Because presumably, an internship is a learning experience and they are not going to be relying on you to work on any huge projects. Thanks for your answer, I really appreciate it!

 

Can you tell me more about the internship? What kind of company is it with, etc?

[namarino]

Can you tell me more about the internship? What kind of company is it with, etc?

Well it's an internship at a place called the Computer Science Corporation or CSC. To be quite honest with you, I don't really know much about them. I believe that they are a government contractor. My sister's best friend's dad works there so I emailed him and asked him for some information about it and he said that he knew the person who does the summer hiring very well so he might be able to help me get one of the internships. I'm sorry if that's not very helpful, I haven't received any information from yet.

[ReesZRB]

Well I will try to explain API as how I know it.

API which stands for Application Programming Interface. It's like Drivers on a Operating System. Drivers are used to run hardware how it was meant to ran. Games don't run smoothly without drivers(GPU). Basically an Interface to access hardware/software without overwriting them.

 

Object Oriented Programming also known as OOP.

As far I can explain it is a method/concept of programming storing data in objects into an Array.

Most commonly used(I think that is what I learned Java from)

 

If I mention something incorrect please correct me, you advanced Java Programmers.

I am an Intermediate Java Programmer.

[SSL]

Well it's an internship at a place called the Computer Science Corporation or CSC. To be quite honest with you, I don't really know much about them. I believe that they are a government contractor. My sister's best friend's dad works there so I emailed him and asked him for some information about it and he said that he knew the person who does the summer hiring very well so he might be able to help me get one of the internships. I'm sorry if that's not very helpful, I haven't received any information from yet.

 

Getting more information about them would be a good first step. It looks good in an interview if you ask good questions, and by questions I don't mean stuff like "how much are you going to pay me". I don't have much to add beyond that without knowing more about the company or internship itself.

[namarino]

Getting more information about them would be a good first step. It looks good in an interview if you ask good questions, and by questions I don't mean stuff like "how much are you going to pay me". I don't have much to add beyond that without knowing more about the company or internship itself.

haha yeah he still has to send me some information. To be honest, I couldn't care less about the money. Minimum wage would be just fine haha I'm really concerned with just learning as much as I can right now. Money will come later. Well I really appreciate your advice and answers to my questions. It was really helpful