Java for Not Yet Techies 2

"Computer Careers: How to Get Started with High Tech Jobs Using the Hot Hotter Hottest Programming Language of All"

by Richard Stooker, President Info Ring Press and author of Secrets of Changing to a Computer Career

The main function of Java so far is to make web sites more interactive

Java - actually, we all know that Java is used to create animated applets, which used to drive me crazy, because I don’t like moving blinking lights.

It's best use is to create what’s called executable content inside a web site itself. These are small programs that actually run on the user’s own computer. This makes them much faster than if they were running on the web site server. It often replaces the slower CGI programs, which are stored on the web site server. If you’ve ever played any kind of game on a web site or completed a survey form which compared your answers to everybody else’s etc, it was probably using Java.

One caution – Java plays havoc with search engine spiders and ranking algorithms

If you have a small business site online and you depend on search engines to bring you targeted traffic, I strongly advise you to resist the temptation to be cool and have Java on your site, at least on the main page. It is more useful for big companies who have large databases hooked up to their servers etc.

There is a big market for Java programmers, and I believe this will only get bigger, as more companies find it necessary to go online. Knowing several Internet skills such as HTML etc will make you very marketable now and in the future, and it is the most powerful.

It is actually a threat to Microsoft’s market dominance

Some people say that the day will come when nobody will need or want to buy entire PCs. They will have a simple Internet contact device. If they want to write a letter, they will then download a word processor applet, then write and send the letter.

Personally, I feel that PCs are now so cheap that this scenario is ridiculous. Even in the future when bandwidth is much more powerful and we stay logged on to the Internet 7/24, why not have a word processor on our hard drives too? Who wants to give that up? We’ll have a 1000 gigabytes, so we’ll want to fill that space with something.

Nevertheless, Microsoft has had to join the computer careers trend

Not only is Internet Explorer compatible, Microsoft sells a good development program, Visual J++. This helps makes writing programs easy, since this program has a Windows environment and is also similar to working with Microsoft’s Visual Basic program.

Other companies sell development tools, such as Symantec’s Café and Borland’s Jbuilder, but these are actually their competing versions.

You can also get the "official" program by downloading the latest version of Sun Microsystem’s Developer’s Kit from the Sun web site.

Classes are not as easy to find as other, more established languages

My local big computer schools were like, "Ahh, gee, we . . . err, have had some requests for that." But no classes scheduled, until recently.

Until recently, the only school that taught Java here in St. Louis was one that specialized in object oriented programming. Recently, another school has started up. Look for one that is certified by Sun. Otherwise, you are taking a chance.

You should certainly buy and study the books. You may not need Java classes at all. There are also classes and tutorials online. Either buy Visual J++ or download Sun’s Development Kit.

Start getting experience and get to work

Another advantage to learning Java is that Sun has two highly regarded certifications for it. Most languages are not worth getting certified for. You either show potential employers you can use the language to write programs, or you can’t. Sun’s certifications are fairly well known and respected.

However, Sun tells you to get some experience before you take the certification tests. They do NOT want to certify a lot of "paper" programmers who can pass tests but not write programs. So learn the basics, get experience at your computer career, then raise your value in the marketplace by passing Sun’s Java certification courses.

Next: Visual J++

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