MY JOURNEY IN JAVA

It is the year 2021, and there are numerous programming languages, frameworks, processes, and technologies available in computer science. Isn’t it exhausting? I’m currently in my second year, and it took me a year simply to figure out which language I enjoy the most. But am I the only one who feels this way? No, I don’t think so. When we meet people and learn about their perspectives, we tend to focus on the positive aspects of all technology and rarely consider the drawbacks. Rather than focusing on our hobbies, we focus on others, which leads to us waste time rather than sticking to a language and learning it completely.

I experienced similar issues at one point, and even the best developers face these quandaries. But one day I decided that because I wanted to start coding in some language, I should just start doing it. At the time, I thought Java to be a decent alternative for learning Data Structures and Algorithms. But is it really that easy to start your journey? It wasn’t for me because I couldn’t decide where to begin, where to begin studying, what IDE to use, whether or not to choose Java, and so on. But once I was initiated into Java, I went on from the ground up with a clean mind, and I discovered that the concepts are more important than the language.

I started with the basics of Java and was having trouble with the “hello world” programme because I had previously used Python. When I switched to Java, the whole concept of classes and objects, methods, words like public, static, void, println, and so on just seemed out of my league. I felt Java could be a little challenging for me, but then I decided I should give it some time. So I began by learning how a Java programme works, and then progressed to learning about the compiler, JDK, memory and data use, and so on. Before I could realise, I was hooked on programming and believed it would be something I’d like to pursue as a career.

We often hear that Java has too many syntaxes, that it is difficult to understand the classes and objects, that C++ is superior, and so on, but I personally believe that an Object Oriented Programming language like Java is maligned far too much, despite the software industry’s reliance on Java. Yes, it has longer codes and is slower than C++, but I don’t think these are compelling reasons not to use Java. Java is a wonderful language with thousands of apps, such as Android development, and Java frameworks, such as ‘Spring,’ which is used in the backend.

But, exactly, what happens in Java? Java does not support one-step compilation because it is a platform-independent programming language. Instead, it is run in two stages: first by an OS-independent compiler, and then by a virtual machine (JVM) tailored to each operating system. The two major steps are outlined below.

The source ‘.java’ file is first processed by the compiler, which then encodes the source code into a machine independent encoding known as Bytecode. Each class in the source file has its own ‘.class’ file containing its content.

The compiler generates class files that are independent of the machine or the operating system, allowing them to run on any system. To run, the main class file (the class containing the function main) is handed to the JVM, which then proceeds through three major steps before the final machine code is executed.

When it comes to Java, it is critical to comprehend fundamental concepts such as classes and objects, methods, constructors, and object-oriented programming (OOP). The Java packages are also very useful in the creation of projects. One of my favourite aspects of my java experience was how much I enjoyed the learning process. This is not the case with Java alone; every language has its own journey, and it is up to the programmer to either enjoy it or learn it for the sake of the job, which is not a good practice.

It’s all about consistency and how you apply your problem-solving skills to code. Language is used to help you choose a path and to help your system comprehend what you wish to implement. It is difficult to be constant in some aspects, however there is a quote that always motivates me to code on a regular basis.

“You are not born with a passion, but you can master something and cultivate your passion.”

I hope you enjoyed reading this and that it provided you with some clarity.

~KRISHANU DAS

MEMBER, IEEE-PCS, VIT (VELLORE)