Hi. This post is to all experienced java developers in the house. Please educate, advice and lecture me. I have always wanted to program but never really gotten my hands to it. Procrastination has been my greatest enemy. Now I want to devote a large proportion of my time learning java because I love the fact that it can run on any platform.

Please what are the opportunities for me here in Nigeria. I rarely see any openings for java developers, mostly php, JavaScript, python


Do you think I should continue. How long would it take me to be able to solve real time problems for people or should I say a mid-level java programar.

In my opinion, java is a good middle ground.
It's hard without being too hard ,so if you succeed at it ,you'd have developed
a higher level of self discipline that you would have if you went for easier languages.

It's better designed than c,c++ . So you wont have to spend a lot of time unlearning junks
as would be the case if you learnt c++.

How long will it take you to learn?
It's hard to say. This is a subjective question.
But they're some guide posts:
When can you think naturally in the language's paradigm?
When can you decompose a programming problem into its abstract components-
extract the interfaces,abstract classes and concrete classes in the problem.

When can you design extensible programs that many year down the road when
you aren't working on them or they need to be modified , the maintainer wouldnt be tempted
to throw out the old code and start again because it's a design nightmare?
At this stage , getting to program to work isnt enough. Clean, elegant design is a must.

When can you read source code the way you read english. This is a primary stepping stone in your
journey. Your brain should be a language parser so that you can debug code while your reading them.
This is the first step you need to cross in your journey towards maturity.

When can you analyse the performance of a program?
Know what data structure to choose and why?
Know the pros and cons of each data structure?
A wrong choice in this department would make your program slow under heavy loads even though
it would seem fast to you when you were testing it.

When can you solve real problems for people?
Once you know a little of the basics you can.
But your program would be , in retrospect, amateurish.

They are no opportunities here-
Most adverts you see are for web based programmers.
Even though java can be used for web development, it is not popular in that domain.

Do you think i should continue?
- A lot depends on you.
If you dont have passion and perseverance you wont go far. Infact, you'll be overwhelmed
by how much there is to learn that you will give up.
If you are going the self taught route, be ready to do a lot of programming , writing little programs
to test yourself. Pushing your own limits.

You have to stay with it. I'd say budget 3 years(if you have no background in logical disciplines (e.g mathematics, engineering etc) , after then, evaluate yourself and see if you want to continue. By then, the language syntax should be familiar. You'd have been able to design some mid level
programs. You'd have developed your sense of intuition and your inner style would be beginning to bud.

Thank you very much asalimpo, you have spoken so much. I must commend your effort in explaining this thoroughly.

You have said it all, discipline and passion is all that is needed. I have started learning but with tears but wouldn't give up even when its making lil sense. My goal is to be able to solve problems for people and be involved in challenging projects.

Thanks will love to connect with u better.skypeId: Sylking2.

asalimpo:
In my opinion, java is a good middle ground.
It's hard without being too hard ,so if you succeed at it ,you'd have developed
a higher level of self discipline that you would have if you went for easier languages.

It's better designed than c,c++ . So you wont have to spend a lot of time unlearning junks
as would be the case if you learnt c++.

How long will it take you to learn?
It's hard to say. This is a subjective question.
But they're some guide posts:
When can you think naturally in the language's paradigm?
When can you decompose a programming problem into its abstract components-
extract the interfaces,abstract classes and concrete classes in the problem.

When can you design extensible programs that many year down the road when
you aren't working on them or they need to be modified , the maintainer wouldnt be tempted
to throw out the old code and start again because it's a design nightmare?
At this stage , getting to program to work isnt enough. Clean, elegant design is a must.

When can you read source code the way you read english. This is a primary stepping stone in your
journey. Your brain should be a language parser so that you can debug code while your reading them.
This is the first step you need to cross in your journey towards maturity.

When can you analyse the performance of a program?
Know what data structure to choose and why?
Know the pros and cons of each data structure?
A wrong choice in this department would make your program slow under heavy loads even though
it would seem fast to you when you were testing it.

When can you solve real problems for people?
Once you know a little of the basics you can.
But your program would be , in retrospect, amateurish.

They are no opportunities here-
Most adverts you see are for web based programmers.
Even though java can be used for web development, it is not popular in that domain.

Do you think i should continue?
- A lot depends on you.
If you dont have passion and perseverance you wont go far. Infact, you'll be overwhelmed
by how much there is to learn that you will give up.
If you are going the self taught route, be ready to do a lot of programming , writing little programs
to test yourself. Pushing your own limits.

You have to stay with it. I'd say budget 3 years(if you have no background in logical disciplines (e.g mathematics, engineering etc) , after then, evaluate yourself and see if you want to continue. By then, the language syntax should be familiar. You'd have been able to design some mid level
programs. You'd have developed your sense of intuition and your inner style would be beginning to bud.

I always felt you were mature in this industry even though there was no reason other than a few concise comments here and there. Now I know why.

Od course, there are Java openings here, though not as much as some other techs. Java pays are much better.

@larisoft
Thanks for the commendation. We are still learning.

@jostking
I was once a clueless noob. I know what it is like to be full of doubt and despair.
And when code syntax looked like gibberish. Thankfully, i survived it-you will too if you stick with it.
glad to be of help to you.