Failures and Accomplishments
It has been 9 months since I began this journey. My goal is 2 years. I can’t believe how time flies! I’ve been so busy learning and enjoying the summer days that I have abandoned this a bit. But it is time to catch you up.
I have been focusing on 3 main subjects for the past 2 months:
- GUI (JavaFX & Swing)
- Concurrency and Threads in Java
- JSP and Servlets
GUI (JavaFX & Swing)
I spent about 2 weeks on this. But they were 2 bad weeks. Sometimes the code would work and others, for whatever reason, it did not. I was getting headaches. A lot of them. Specially with configuring JavaFX on the IDE. In the end I managed, but it was not what I imagined. I had this romantic idea on how to make a GUI app for my projects as tests, which were just that… romantic. I understand now why so many beginner’s projects look to blegh.
After some research on whether it was worth it, I gave up on it. But they were not lost hours. Thanks to JavaFX, I was introduced properly to Maven (a beautiful baby) and Modules (another beauty which I still need to learn more about). But oh my, Maven was a game changer! I spent so many hours trying to find the correct drivers, installing them on the correct location, and setting up the correct configurations on IDE, just to find out that Maven… precious Maven did it all for me. I understand the whole “you need to learn first what happens behind the curtain before you step out on the stage” thing… but so MANY HOURS! I could have learned other things in that time!
Concurrency & Threads
This was a big one. I also felt pushed to learn it due to JavaFX. As I found my project often freezing according to the other of the classes I was implementing vs the GUI. So I first learned about threads before learning about threads in JavaFX. I have to be honest, most of the material out there leaves you with more questions than answers. However, I found a wonderful course in LinkedIn Learning (it is not free, but my company gives us access). It is Parallel and Concurrent Programming with Java (1 & 2) by Olivia Chiu Stone and Barron Stone. They made the whole thing very funny (and cheesy) as well as relatable by using kitchen analogies. I understood everything I could not follow in the Java Masterclass Udemy course. I am not an expert, but now I understand why and where they are used, should the moment arrive.
JSP & Servlets
Now, I am not done yet here. But I HAVE to talk about this. I am currently on hour 3 of a 6-hour course on this, and I am in LOVE. It reminded me when I began learning PHP (most of it is a blur now). It is so easy! I am having a lot of fun making my notes and testing the codes. As well as making plans to convert my practice code into a web app, so I can show it off here. I got so exited, I kept stealing 5 minutes here and there for each module. And I know, JSP is ancient, I should be learning Javascript, blah blah. But NO! I want to know everything in Java first, before I go into other languages. And I feel Java has an elegance I haven’t seen on other languages, and I want to make it mine.
I am doing the Servlet & JSP Telusko course in Youtube. I love the way this is explained. I also found another similar one in LinkedIn Learning, with just as many hours, but I will keep it as reference in case something is not clear on the youtube one.
The reason I began this course, instead, is because it is a pre-requirement to the Spring framework. Which I am very much looking forward to. And I am keeping an eye on what kind of requirements companies have for java developers, and I want to think at least the top 5 things. I am not in a hurry. I love my current job and I believe I will stay for a few years. By the time I am ready, I can do this, I know I can. I am actually better at it than I thought. And that makes me more excited. I love that I have time for personal projects and want to make the best out of these years to play and learn.