When learning a new programming language it can be quick and easy to learn the commands, native data types and syntax. This is what is covered in most beginner’s guides to programming and so it should be. You need to know the basics before you can do anything else.
The next step is to decide to write code for a specific development platform. Each platform has its own way of doing things.
Once you know your development platform then it’s time to turn your attention to actually doing something.
But how and where to start?
Whilst most programming languages only have about 30 commands to learn, the development platforms have many hundreds of tools to get to grips with. These tools, usually referred to as the API, are there to help build rich and useful programs quickly, or more quickly than you could do yourself. They also reduce the amount of code you need to write.
The key to writing your own full and rich desktop applications is to learn to harness the power of the development tools for your chosen environment. As a developer you need to learn how to use these tools and how to integrate these tools into your application so that your applications come to life.
The best way to learn is through doing and the quickest way to do things is for someone to show you the way, to lead you through each step and show how to put things together.
Here we provide full and complete examples of how to use the Java API so you can see how to use the various tools within a real world application. Take a look the tutorials and courses to see what is available.