A newbie needs help in Java ......

[akshayabc]

I am new to Java & in my college we r directly being taught the applets. So i have a very simple set of questions since i have not done core Java.please answer them in relation to applets(I have a background in C/C++ also)-----
1) While calling inbuilt functions in Java we can write statements like these- obj_name.method_name() or method_name() or class_name.method_name() (I know this is used when the func is static, so plz tell which type of func are usually static in Applets) . When do we use each of these statements.
2) I am having a lot of problems in remembring which are uppercase/lower case letters in class and inbuilt method names.
Does a class name always start with a capital? And do all the words in function name except the first one start with capitals? I know for both these questions the answer is not always. So which classes & methods dont follow this rule.

Akshey

[server_crash]

The first question, where to usestatic methods in applets:

1) Not very often. It's not advisable for newcomers to start using static methods right away, because they're normally used in the wrong context. Static methods only share one object. If you have ten instances of one static method, they all share the same object.

2) You have your second question correct. You DON'T HAVE to do this, but it's good programming practice.

[jwenting]

1) not quite. Static methods don't share any object instance. Rather they don't have access to the object instances at all.

2) http://java.sun.com/docs/index.html see the coding conventions for what's the norm, and the language specs for what's required. Also check out the tutorial (it's not quite up to date but rather nice anyway). And of course the API docs which are vital to have and understand how to use.

[server_crash]

1) not quite. Static methods don't share any object instance. Rather they don't have access to the object instances at all.

I swear I use to know this! I'm glad you're hear, or else I would be making people more dumb.