I’m just about to place two orders on Amazon.com.

1: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0596009208/ref=ord_cart_shr/102-3778747-7153732?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A3ILNQ3ZYSJXWV&v=glance&n=283155

2: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059610197X/ref=ord_cart_shr/102-3778747-7153732?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A2NT0F3A6LH7YD&v=glance&n=283155

I actually found the first one first due to a Slashdot book review. From there I found the Java related book. This came out of nowhere, but I’m excited to give all this another shot.

:)

I always wanted to learn programming. I’ve been a tech/computer geek for years but I realized that all I do is consume. I read articles online, I read and write posts in forums but when do I ever create something? Never! That’s why I’ve had a deep-seated desire to learn programming for a long time.

In freshman year of college I took an intro CS class with Java and then had to drop it three weeks later because of a schedule conflict. My academic advisor put me in another Java class she said was equivalent to the one I had first taken… well, I was in for an ugly, ugly surprise. The class I ended up taking was an advanced, accelerated intro Java class. It was Java, still, and it was an intro class… but it was designed specifically for people who already had programming experience in at least one other higher level programming language. Needless to say I was the youngest member in the class.. some people were twice my age!

I was completely swamped by the material and stopped going to class altogether after a while because it was just like sitting in on an advanced Chinese class randomly—I didn’t get a THING of what the professor was saying. To avoid an F in the class I managed to get an incomplete and retook the course in the summer… the result was the same.

It’s very unfortunate that things turned out the way they did. As things stand right now I still have homework assignments to turn in to get a grade in the class, and the grade is going to be ugly. I should have turned the homework in a long time ago.. it’s basically done, but not perfect. It needs to be perfect, or at least as good as it can possibly be because I can’t take any chances.. the two exams I had in the class went terrible so I have to rely on scoring well on these homework assignments. Out of fear of the homework assignments not being the best they can be, I STILL haven’t turned them in :(.

I was never able to build up any confidence in Java as the material kept coming so quickly… I know only the raw basics today and I’m not sure I could correct my own homework if I looked at it! I’ll try. I really have to turn it in :(

And then I would like to get a fresh start at giving learning Java a shot.