Design Recipes and Syntax Rules for Java

Design Recipe for Object-Oriented Programs

A good place to start if you have an assignment and no existing code to start with.

Design Recipe for Java Classes

How to design and write an individual class (part of the above recipe).

Design Recipe for Java Methods

How to design and write a single method in a single class.

The Java Language

Learning a human language requires learning a new set of spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and idioms. The same is true of a computer language like Java.

My Reference on the Java Language

using the metaphor of a human language, with spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and idioms

Sun's documentation for Java developers

Note especially the API Documentation, which covers the standard Java libraries, and Tutorials.

Self-test based on a quiz from a previous semester

Most of the students did very poorly on the quiz in question, and I concluded that I hadn't explained the syntax rules adequately in class. Here's a step-by-step solution to the quiz, pointing out the relevant syntax rules and pitfalls along the way. Not finished yet, but....

The Structure of Java Programs

Where classes, variable declarations, method headers and bodies belong in a Java source file. (Note: this is "Swedish" knowledge, as opposed to the more fundamental principles in the design recipes above, but you still need it in order to write Java programs.)

How do I declare a variable?

Discusses the differences among local, instance, and parameter variables, and how to declare each one.