Course = JAVA // Complete!

I've just recently finished an introductory course in JAVA. I'm currently studying PHP and plan to finish that course this weekend.

Polymorphism is starting to make sense...

I'm about 65% of the way through a Java course via StackSkills and polymorphism is starting to make sense.

One of the slides from the course taught me the following;

A superclass type can always be cast to the type of one of its subclasses. This is called “downcasting”.

The ultimate root class in Java is Object. An object of type Object can be downcast to any type (class) that descends from Object.

The ability of a class to be cast to the type of one of its subclasses or descendants is terms polymorphism.

My first game in Java!

I found an amazing tutorial for writing a brick breaking style game in Java. I walked through the video, typing all of the code, and was able to fully reproduce the game! In some respect, I suppose it's similar to tracing a drawing, but either way, I am so happy with the results. My first hello world app took me about 90 minutes to finish. I finished the game in about two hours.

// Main.java

/*
 * This amazing Java game was written by Austin Craver
 * by following and coding along with a 57 minute tutorial.
 * Special thanks to Awais Mirza for taking the time to create
 * and share such a helpful and informative video!!! *
 */

package breakerGame;

import javax.swing.JFrame;

public class Main {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Creates frame for game
        JFrame obj = new JFrame();
        Gameplay gamePlay = new Gameplay();
        obj.setBounds(10, 10, 700, 600);
        obj.setTitle("Breakout Ball");
        obj.setResizable(false);
        obj.setVisible(true);
        obj.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        obj.add(gamePlay);
    }
}

IntelliJ and Variables

I'm really starting to enjoy using IntelliJ. The design is elegant and intuitive, and the functionality is top notch. Coupled with a complimentary course from Microsoft, I am learning the Integrated Development Environment as well as Java. Such a lovely combination.

Hello Java

I am currently enrolled in a variety of computer science courses, one of which is focused entirely on Java. I'm writing this post to serve as a digital mile marker.  As with so many other courses, one of the first tasks was to write, build, and run a Hello World app. The build went fine, however, I could not run the program. I am new to IntelliJ and had to configure the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). It took me longer than I would like to admit. Just the same, here I am, publically admitting it. Why? Because I am a passionate life-long learner, and mistakes are great teachers. That, and I'm really happy that I was able to figure it out. And now, I know how. It's now and forever one more thing that I've learned on my path to becoming a computer scientist. The feeling that I get from those moments of success is a large part of the reason that I am on this current path. I love overcoming such challenges. I cannot wait to be able to envision something and take it from my mind, through the computer, and into cyberspace.

Developing an Understanding of...

I'm creating this post in the spirit of a leaving digital post-it-note for myself. Perhaps in a few months or a year, I will be updating my resume, and maybe I'll feel it useful to list some of the areas of computer science that I have an understanding of. It's quite likely that I will forget details along the way.  Either way, I am currently studying and gaining a working understanding of C, Java, HTML, PHP, CSS, and Python. I am also becoming familiar with Amazon Webservices, Elastic Cloud Computing, Cloud9, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), and Git. I'm also navigating streamlined cross-platform source code editors, data science analysis, and software version control protocol.

I'm currently spending as much time as possible; watching videos, working through tutorials, reading articles, and books.