Learning Java on KDE neon or Kubuntu
Probably the best way to learn the basics of Java on KDE neon or Kubuntu is to complete the University of Helsinki's MOOC's entitled,
Both courses are free and you can progress from a student with no prior knowledge of programming to being able to use the basics of Java. The IDE used is Netbeans with a plugin called Test My Code (TMC) that uploads a students code to be tested on the server. The MOOC uses it's own download of Netbeans 8.2 bundled with TMC. Instructions for installing it are here.
In case of problems guidance can be found in an IRC chatroom for students.
There are also open source textbooks available which can be found at sites such as;
To give an idea of what the work flow is in the Object-Orientated programming with Java course is it consists of reading a tutorial in you browser such as Week 1 and completing the exercises at the base of the tutorial using Netbeans.
For instance the first exercise asks you to output the name Jane Doe to the screen using the knowledge gained in the tutorial. You then go to Netbeans and select the exercise 001.Name on the left. Open the src directory and double click on the Name.java file which will open it in editable form on the right. The unedited source code looks like this,
public class Name { public static void main(String[] args) { // Write your program here // Please answer to our survey http://oo-start.mooc.fi/english_mooc_participants/new // It will take less than 5 minutes! }}Under the comments you write your code. In this case using the System.out.print(""); method that was shown in the tutorial.
public class Name { public static void main(String[] args) { // Write your program here // Please answer to our survey http://oo-start.mooc.fi/english_mooc_participants/new // It will take less than 5 minutes! System.out.print("Jane Doe"); }}After you are happy with your code then you click the Run "001.Name" Project button at the top of the screen to make sure it works without errors and then "Run Tests Locally" to further check for errors before using the Submit button to submit it to the server for points.
All going well you should receive an "All Tests Passed" confirmation and the number of points awarded. You can also view a model solution to the problem and compare it with your own. In this case the model solution is,
public class Name { public static void main(String[] args) { // Write your program here // Please answer to our survey http://oo-start.mooc.fi/english_mooc_participants/new // It will take less than 5 minutes! System.out.println("Eric Example"); }}Pretty much exactly the same as mine except with some more white space for easier reading. :)
