Error Handling
in [Java Help]
|
From: Rhino on 1 Jun 2010 17:15 "Tom Anderson" <twic(a)urchin.earth.li> wrote in message news:alpine.DEB.1.10.1005302045280.15029(a)urchin.earth.li... > On Sun, 30 May 2010, Rhino wrote: > >> "Eric Sosman" <esosman(a)ieee-dot-org.invalid> wrote in message >> news:hts0qe$dnj$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >> >>> May 17, 2010: "I used to know how to [use instanceof] several years ago" >>> >>> Feb 13, 2006[!]: "I've been writing Java code [...] for several years >>> now and feel that I could do a decent job at an intermediate level" >>> >>> Dec 22, 2005[!!]: "I've been writing Java for several years" >>> >>> Dec 6, 2004[!!!]: "I have been writing Java for several years and am >>> fluent enough that I don't have to post questions here very often" >>> [!!!!!!!!] >>> >>> If "several plus five and a half" years of Java experience have left you >>> unaware of instanceof, baffled by the use of interface types, and still >>> asking long-winded elementary questions about exceptions, I'd guess that >>> you will not benefit from any book, however excellent. Something in your >>> brain resists Java, and you'd just be wasting time and money trying to >>> pound square-pegged Java into your head's round hole. Forget Java and >>> take up set design or viola playing or politics or something -- there >>> must be *some* field for which you have more talent, because your talent >>> for Java seems small indeed. >> >> As the Brits would say: "Charming!" >> >> I had expected better of you. I certainly hadn't imagined that you would >> take time from your busy schedule to research past posts to try to find >> things to throw in my face. Try taking nearly four years away from Java >> and then see how much YOU remember when you come back to it.... > > I did - well, except it was nearly ten years rather than nearly four. I > had a paying java job in 1998, then stopped and went off to pursue a > career in biology. Gave up on that in 2008 and returned to the fold. I > wrote the odd bit of java in my time away, but mostly switched to python > for my programming needs. I had quite a bit of catching up to do, and a > lot of stuff to remember, but i did. In fact, it was easy; i suspect > because i'd learned it fairly well before i left, so it call came flooding > back. > > The fact that you are not finding it as easy suggests to me that despite > your several years of experience before your break, you had never really > understood java. This fits with an impression that i am developing of you: > you are energetic, interested, and clever, but you are lacking in > attention span. To understand something, you need to take time to sit down > and think about it, really think about it, to do your own reading and work > through problems, learning from them as you do so. From your posts, it > seems like you tend to work in a more reactive, superficial way: hit a > problem, post about it, get answers, try to apply them, then come back > with more questions. There is a flow of information, but it seems to > bypass the part of your brain that does learning. Now, that might actually > be a reasonably effective way of getting things done - indeed, i think it > might be the way in which the vast majority of working programmers > operate! - but it is not a road which leads to mastery. > You may well be right, Tom, particularly about the part where I'd never really understood Java before my four year hiatus. That seems likely given that I'd learned whatever I knew from a handful of books - not the ones that people recommend now as the great Java books, since those hadn't even be written in some cases - some trial and error and some posting to newsgroups. I have a fair amount of code that works but I realize that a lot of it leaves something to be desired in the design department..... I'm playing a wicked game of catch-up now and I'm under the gun too since I need to find a job soon. I'd much rather write code than sell french fries so I am trying to polish a decent-sized sample of my existing code for my "portfolio". Filling in the various gaps in my understanding IS on the agenda but I'm hoping I can get paying work with Java FIRST so that I have access to mentors to guide me on my way. I simply don't have the time to do all the reflecting necessary to get my head around Java design right now. But it's high on my "to do" list once I get work! Clearly, in an ideal world, I would do things the other way around - get OO Design down first, THEN look for a Java job - but I simply can't do that right now. Just one of many things I would do very differently if I had to do it over again.... -- Rhino
From: Rhino on 1 Jun 2010 17:35 "markspace" <nospam(a)nowhere.com> wrote in message news:htu91m$f3j$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > Rhino wrote: > >> And I say again, for the LAST time, that memorizing large tracts of a >> complex book where you have to get the details right is just not >> something I can do. In fact, I don't think it's something ANYONE can >> realistically do, unless perhaps they have so called eidetic >> ("photographic") memory, which I don't. > > > Just a brief note before I disappear for the (American) holiday weekend: > this is exactly how I learned Java. Or one of the ways, at least. I got > a copy of Kathy Sierra's book for the SCJP exam, went through each > chapter, took notes, took the exams at the end of each chapter, corrected > my own exams, etc. > > It's tedious and frustrating work, but it will teach you Java. You just > have to preserve and keep at it. > > The other thing that teaches Java is taking a structured course with > programming exercises. Hands on work is essential to learning. (At > college, they call this a "lab" class.) I used the javapassion.com site > when it was free. I'd still recommend that site if you have the $39US to > spare, as it was a step above what you'd normally get at a local community > college. > > You can simulate this yourself with your own self-programming studies, but > one also tends to get stuck in a rut this way and not learn new things. > Having a lab designed by someone else can move you into new areas of > learning. > Thanks for your input, Markspace. One thing I have learned over the years is that we each have our own best way of learning. Like you, I am a "hands-on" guy. I need some theory so that I know why I am doing what I'm doing but the hands-on is where I really start to understand things, at least the "how" if not always the "why". So my time with Java has mostly been hands-on, working with a handful of Java programming books. As I acknowledged with Tom elsewhere in the thread, I have a lot of gaps in the theory department and I'm trying to pick that up now. I'm way overdue on that for a variety of reasons and if I had it to do over, I would have done it sooner but this is where I find myself. I've met people who can just hear the theory - or read the product manuals - and they know everything they need to know. I envy those people but I am not one of them. I'm glad your approach to learning Java worked for you. It's probably a matter of not having started with the right books. For instance, I've never heard of Kathy Sierra and Joshua Bloch hadn't written the first edition of his book at the point where I started writing Java. So I started working through 1001 Java Programming Tips. I got quite a lot out of that book in terms of programming basics but it was written in the Java 1.0 or 1.1 days and a lot has changed. My local bookstore didn't have a lot of Java books to choose from and my library had even less. But that was 1997 and a lot has changed. I rather wish I had started Java later when it was more mature and there were more good books. I also wish I had made more of an effort with learning theory rather than leaving it so late. But that's water under the bridge and I need to move on from here and fill in my gaps as best I can now..... I checked last night to see if there was a JUG (Java user group) in my area but, unfortunately, there's not. The nearest groups are two to three hours drive (in each direction) away and I don't trust my ancient car to get me there. Once I have work and can afford a car though, I will look into joining a JUG. Or maybe start one here. There must be other Java developers in this area; I'm not THAT far off the beaten path ;-) Relocating to an area that has more Java development is also a distinct possibility if I don't find Java work here.... I hope you have/had a great Memorial Day weekend, Markspace! -- Rhino > >
From: Rhino on 1 Jun 2010 17:42 "Patricia Shanahan" <pats(a)acm.org> wrote in message news:vuqdnYHv-uvIlpjRnZ2dnUVZ_sSdnZ2d(a)earthlink.com... > Rhino wrote: >> "Daniel Pitts" <newsgroup.spamfilter(a)virtualinfinity.net> wrote in >> message news:LvWLn.15255$7d5.3812(a)newsfe17.iad... >>> On 5/28/2010 1:51 PM, Rhino wrote: >>>> "Jeff Higgins"<oohiggins(a)yahoo.com> wrote in message >>>> news:htp86q$arf$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... >>>>> On 5/28/2010 2:58 PM, Rhino wrote: >>>>>> I'm trying to figure out some "best practices" for error handling. >>>>>> >>>>> <http://books.google.com/books?id=Fz1kQgAACAAJ&dq=Robust+Java&cd=1> >>>> Thank you. Money is tight right now so I won't be able to get that book >>>> right away but I'll look at buying it when I have a bit more disposable >>>> income.... >>>> >>>> -- >>>> Rhino >>>> >>>> >>> You might try your local library or book store. Near where I live, >>> Borders is a good place to pick up a book and read it before buying it. >>> >>> Some might say this is a dubious activity, however I buy plenty of books >>> and also patronize the coffee shop frequently. >>> >> >> That would be a better strategy for a situation where I just want to get >> one or two details and could write them down or memorize them while >> "browsing". But the description makes it look like there's lot of good >> stuff inside, far more than I could reasonably memorize or summarize even >> if I spent a couple of hours browsing. > > I would combine the two suggested free reading strategies. First check > whether the book is available in your local library, and if not place an > inter-library loan request for it. Meanwhile, start hanging out at > Borders. Even if you do not have the money for coffee, they have chairs > scattered around the shelf area. > Actually, I'll be putting in an Interlibrary Loan request for both books, Robust Java and Effective Java, tomorrow when I go to the library. I've already gathered and printed the titles and ISBNs. The local library has neither book. The big bookstore chain can get both books but they are too pricey to buy right now. If the interlibrary loan comes through quickly, great, I'll learn in my own home and take copious notes directly on the computer. But if the loans look like they're going to take a long time to come through, I'll consider hanging out at the coffee shop within the bookstore and seeing how much I can pick up that way. Honestly, I'm not optimistic of covering much ground that way; the sheer tedium of hand-writing notes in a way that I'll be able to read later is going to keep me from covering ground at any decent pace..... > You need to get away from thinking of programming in terms of a set of > rules of thumb that you would have to write down. Look for understanding > and ways of thinking. Those can be absorbed and internalized by a mix of > reading and practice. Until you get the library book, go to Borders, > read a bit, then go home and practice what you read. Repeat. > > Unless you have enough money for a shelf full of Java books, you need to > apply the free reading strategies to get a good range of viewpoints. > Fair enough. I _have_ been tending to use the newsgroup as a poor man's way of accomplishing the same thing but you're probably right: I should read full books with properly argued points of view. Although some of the regulars here do an outstanding job of giving "nutshell" versions of key points, sometimes, you need to see the whole idea developed and elaborated before you REALLY understand the points. Thanks for the advice, Patricia! -- Rhino
From: Jeff Higgins on 1 Jun 2010 18:10 On 6/1/2010 5:42 PM, Rhino wrote: > Fair enough. I _have_ been tending to use the newsgroup as a poor man's way > of accomplishing the same thing but you're probably right: I should read > full books with properly argued points of view. Although some of the > regulars here do an outstanding job of giving "nutshell" versions of key > points, sometimes, you need to see the whole idea developed and elaborated > before you REALLY understand the points. Have you considered contributing to an open source community project. All of the things that you have been asking for are there: Tons of excellent documented example code to study. Tons of design documentation. Tons of helpful mentors. You get to pick exactly what you want to work on. At interview just point to your contributions. All free.
First
|
Prev
|
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Prev: XWSSecurity and WebSphere Next: Open source licensing being questioned by anti-copyrighttypes |