Learn Java from Scratch

Yesterday I talked with a freshman from one of the local (Singapore) private university. Now he starts learning Java language. The curriculum required him to learn Java very fast with the small amount of introductory material. It translate to he has to do considerable amount of individual unsupervised work.

It good though that the university requires him to learn the Java language the hard way. Use text editor only and command line.

Next after they learn Object Oriented Application Development, they will be allowed to use sophisticated commercial development tools, such as IntelliJ IDEA which is available at his campus.

I still believe and support the idea that a better fundamental will be shaped when students learn Java the hard way, that is start from the command line compiler and the command line JVM invocation.

Tuning your IntelliJ IDEA 6.0

I found some useful tips when using JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA 6.0:

Turn off the "Synchronize files on frame deactivation" from [File - Settings - General] when your application source tree has become very large. This will save your time synchronizing unnecessarily when switching between windows. I often switch between processes using Alt-Tab key, and this setting saved me a great deal of time.

In the same menu, turn off "Reopen last project on startup" when working in more than one project. When your project grows large, and you switch between projects pretty often, it's nice not to have your IDEA opening the project, loading its mega collection of jars, sitting doing nothing for 5-15 minutes, and later found out it is not the project you are intended to open.