I am a new Java programming, and there is something I'm wondering that isn't in any of the books I've read or the on-line tutorials I've gone thru.
Just about every time a program is used to illustrate a point, there is always some method used, seemingly out of the blue. The author will say something like "use the xxx method of the yyy class", and more often than not the whole thing seems really straightforward and logical (as in using a method called "getSettings" to get some settings) but - how am I, as a new Java programmer, supposed to know that those methods exist?
I know to look at the documentation on-line at the Sun site - if I'm on-line - but there doesn't seem to be a good way to search thru it to find what I want; if I'm lucky, there'll be a class with the very name I'm thinking of for me to look at, and if I'm really lucky, the class will have methods that do just what I want. But if not, what do I do? And what if I'm not on-line and need to do some Java development?
I suggest downloading the documentation and bringup up the api index page in your browser (Internet Explorer, Navigator, Opera, or whatever you use) and keep it open in another window. It probably takes a while to get used to knowing which classes to look in. I use the Index at the top and try and guess a name and see if there is something there already. G for get... and S for set... have very long index lists.
You can also buy the Java Almanac which lists everything in paperback book format. I think you can order it from the java.sun.com website through their on line bookstore. Amazon probably has it. It was not very expensive
I bought and used one of those for a while a couple of years ago. But I have adapted to the electornic documentation approach and learned to just go find things.
And of course if there is no method, you make your own. Go for it!!!
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