The subject title says it all. Is it worth taking classes at a university?

I'm impatient with myself, and I would love to learn Java (some Sourceforge projects intrigue me) quickly and accurately. Is it worth the huge investment in time and money to take classes somewhere, or even online... or is it effective to use some freely available online resource, like tutorials and whatnot?

I'm a writer, so my time is pretty limited despite the hours I spend tossing paragraphs into OpenOffice in front of my monitor.

Suggestions/comments/experience recollections?

Of course it is, but you can't learn everything from a class. So, I would recommend outside study's while taking the class.

well i think, taking a class is not necessary but what you need is practice after reading some online or offline tutorial and resources. I have interest in programming since high school, and I learn it by reading and doing practice... like changing the code of tutorials and running them, so i can see the difference...
many of my friends in university, after taking our first programming language lecture (c programming) can't write a program (yet they pass)... because they didn't practice what they learn.
if you are new to programming it may take sometime to get used to it...

A class is not necessary? Do you want a job?

well i learn lots of thing before attending to classes at university, just by reading and doing some programming... so it is not necessary, i think.

I see what your saying.. I myself learned tons from books and stuff, and I'm currently in ap computer science and know way more than my teacher, due to the studies I did outside of school. So, if I know all of this, why am I taking the class? I'm taking it to get credit for it. It's the same way with college, or online classes. You take them so you have proof that you know the stuff. What would happen if you fill out a resume for a job? You couldn't just put that you learned everything you know from books.

yep, that's true, you need to prove yourself, i agree with you,
but Locke.Digitalus i think only wants to learn java for a hobby, so he don't really need to prove himself...

ohh, well if he's wanting to learn it for a hobby, then there is no point in taking classes.

Formal education is invaluable.
Just picking up some source you don't know the first thing about whether it's well designed and programmed or not and thinking you can learn the language from that is just silly, it won't work.

Learning from a GOOD book can work, IF you can bring the discipline to do it properly and IF you can recognise which is the GOOD book (rather than the cheap book that looks nice). Problem is that unless you have that formal education and/or a lot of experience you won't know how to recognise a good book and if you do you're unlikely to be interested in beginners' books...

Thanks for all the replies. Now, if I can add another "argument" to my question -- can anyone tell me if it is more worthwhile to go to an actual brick-and-mortar school, or enroll in an online / correspondance course? Would I be losing out on anything by taking an online university approach?

It is accurate to say that learning Java is more of a hobby... at the moment. I'm a writer, not a lover-of-mathematics, so I've been told that I use the incorrect side of my brain to be a decent programmer. That may or may not be true, but I would like to have some education (if it's worth getting) in a technology field.

It appears that most of you believe a formal education is the most sure-fire way to "get it" when it comes to Java, and I'll go along with that. Again, though, could I learn through an online university?

Thanks.