Places to learn gui java

[Jack_11]

How can I learn GUI java? I've been having some problems with places to learn. Can anybody reccomend a source?

[stultuske]

you are way to vague. what do you mean: GUI ?
even

System.out.println("1. new");
System.out.println("2. open");
System.out.println("3. save");
System.out.println("4. exit");

can be considered as a rudimentary GUI. are we talking about Swing, JSF, JavaFX, JSP, GWT UI-binding, ... ?

[lazycoder]

I suggest you check out http://www.homeandlearn.co.uk/java/java.html they have a very good beginner's tutorials.cheers

[stultuske]

LazyCoder: that tutorial is crappy. Besides the fact that it uses out of date material (JDK6, ... ), for a beginner it is not good to start off with an IDE.
That tutorial doesn't teach you how to develop software using Java, it teaches how to use Netbeans.

besides that: for the UI, even though the NetBeans editor is very easy to work with: when it comes to serious applications that need to be maintained after being initially created, and for which the UI may change over time, the NetBeans UI is the worst to work with.
The way the code is generated, will pretty soon lead to regression bugs, meaning in a lot of companies "re-write the UI, or watch your code being rejected".

[JamesCherrill]

I would also avoid that tutorial site. Seems to have been written by someone whith limited knowledge and no experience of Java.

Eg One almost the first page I looked at I found:
variable names like email_address1
use of Boolean rather than boolean
and (where isMatch is a Boolean)...
if (isMatch == true) { ...

truly terrible examples of Java code.

[peter_budo]

Top of Java section thread created by James Java projects for learners pick any project from there, provide UI and post it here if you have any problems. I'm sure people will guide you

[lazycoder]

My bad but don't discredit the site it really helped some of my student to really grasp the premise of coding in java, it's good for absolute beginners.
Well Jack_11 you best bet is to check out <link snipped pending confirmation of its legitimacy JC> and download a few ebooks there, I recommend trying out Pro JavaFX 8. don't stress all ebooks there are for free unless you you want the hardcopy and you will have to buy them through Amazon.

[JamesCherrill]

It's an interesting question as to whether a beginner should learn JavaFX or Swing.
JavaFX is billed as the future of Java GUIs, but it's only been a standard part of the JDK in its current form for less than a year, and is still extrememly rare in real-world projects. Swing has been around almost forever, and is the de-facto standard for existing projects (except in IBM's SWT world). My opinion is that in 2015 beginners should still start with Swing, and wait to see how well JavaFX takes off.

[stultuske]

LazyCoder ...
how many more evidence do we need to give you to show that that tutorial is very, VERY bad, especially for beginners ?
we are not discrediting the site, we are merely stating facts. it is bad.
also: very importantly, check the community rules. it states (and I quote) "Do not post copyright-infringing material"

unless you own the copy rights to those books, which I doubt, you should not post that link here.

don't stress all ebooks there are for free unless you you want the hardcopy and you will have to buy them through Amazon.

ehm ... no. they are NOT "for free". they are 'illegal copies', unless you pay for them.

[Jack_11]

Espicially with Netbeans I don't want that. If I would even use an IDE I would use Eclipse.

[stultuske]

Jack_11: if you are just starting out, even with GUI, start without a (heavyweight) IDE. if you know the basics well enough and just start playing around with Swing, JCreator will do just fine.

[Violet_82]

Get a book I'd say, so at least you learn some theory. I'm using Deitel and Deitel java how to program. Mine is based on Java 7. Not sure @JamesCherrill is particularly happy with my choice though, lol

[JamesCherrill]

Books are out of date by the time they are printed. You should be learning with current Java ie Java 8, not some old version.
The best source of tutorial info is Oracle's own tutorials - not always easy, but comprehensive, current, and definitive.
http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/reallybigindex.html

[Violet_82]

thought you might disagree :-). You're making a valid point though, books do go out of date, but in my own experience (bear in mind that I'm not a programmer, and therefore I don't think like a programmer, not as yet at least and I do java as a hobby only for now and probably for some time before I get a good understading of things) it is important to get a gentle introduction to programming concepts etc and the book, or perhaps a book, even if it is an old one, helped an awful lot. Also, I presume, the core language isn't terribly different from year to year, even if there are surely new features, like lambda expressions to mention the only one I know. But obviously I'm not an expert, so that's just MHO :-). And combining the theory from the book plus the exercises and the support I get from the forum, provides altogether a good learning tool