Comments on: Learning Java alone doesn’t make you Java developer

By: Infernoz

Infernoz — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 07:33:44 +0000

University should be about 1. learning to learn, 2. learning the basics about various computer languages, various techniques, and various technologies like databases, networks, graphics, design tools, OOP etc., 3. preferably learning how to work with other people.

University should not be about learning specifics, like say vendor specific training, advanced language details * etc., unless these are an option later on!

* a lot of third party libraries are best suited to advanced programmers, and not for beginners; I know, I've been a professional developer for many years, and plenty of OSS libraries and frameworks have a steep learning curve, when you want to make serious use of them, often because the user documentation is carp!

By: Alberto

Alberto — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:17:48 +0000

Certainly a Java course shouldn’t be teaching any of those topics. Certainly universities can have courses that touch on the paradigms behind some of those libraries , but it’s really up to the student to learn those advanced topics on their own. One thing developers must do is read up on their own and to get their hands dirty when exploring new topics.

By: Ben

Ben — Wed, 13 May 2009 07:59:21 +0000

I agree in that just learning a language doesn’t necessarily make you a developer – experience counts for a lot. However, I’m not sure teaching about all these API’s in schools would do much but overload and confuse the students. You need a solid grounding in the fundamentals first before delving into third party libraries.

I’ve been a developer for years, but I still find it impossible to keep on top of all the new libraries, methods, best practices etc! )

By: Azizi Yazit

Azizi Yazit — Wed, 13 May 2009 03:11:15 +0000

As a java programmer, for me the strong basic in java is required for those want to became updated java programmer. So, in the University, you learned all the basic and use it to learn all the tools when you are working.

Those tools like java frameworks, portlets, orm and others can be easily to be catch when you have a strong basic in java because as you know all the tools was developed using same language (Java).

By: Francois Marot

Francois Marot — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:05:29 +0000

I agree with you that at school you only learn 50% (at best !) of what you will use in enterprise Java. BUT in school, you have to concentrate on the most important parts ! I think that it is best to have a deep knowledge of the core Java: it is the basis on which all those framework and API are based. So if you don’t have a firm knowledge of those root concepts, you may encounter some tough disillusions later…
It is the same for the IDE (Eclipse, Netbeans): in school, I never really learnt them… But I spend whole my job time using them ! But if I understand enough what is going on in Java (compilation, execution, debugging, classpath issues, classloaders…) I have no problem to understand how to work with those IDE.
I think that school must insist on the fundamental concepts, and must not try to make developers who know every API & framework. If the students know enough of the core concepts, they’ll handle those in no time