1 - Java is as difficult as any other programming language.
2 - Study, study and study some more

Bart

Easier than C++, more difficult than VB.

Study a lot of examples :
http://javalessons.com
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial
and many more.

"Difficult" is a totally subjective word: what's difficult for me may be
trivial for you and vice versa.

I found Java to have the biggest learning curve of any language I've ever
learned, by far. In other words, it took me considerably longer to feel
confident that I knew what I was doing with Java than it had ever taken with
previous languages.

On the other hand, Java does so much more than any other language I've ever
used that it isn't surprising that it takes longer to learn than other
languages. The huge number of things that I can do with Java is its biggest
attraction for me; most of the other languages I've used have only a small
percentage of the capabilities that Java has.

There are several elements to the answer to that question. In no particular
order:

- Ask your customers the questions that will help clarify in your mind what
the program needs to do and then listen to them. There is a strong tendency
among programmers to write the program that you think they should have
rather than what they actually want; you'll make them happier if you give
them what THEY want and if the program does what they want in the way they
want to do it.
- Learn your programming language and make sure you study both the theory
and the language statements. You will never write terribly good Java code if
you don't learn Object Oriented theory (analysis and design), no matter how
well you know the statements that make up the language. Learn what Design
Patterns are and when to use them.
- Don't be afraid to ask questions of people who know more than you. This
newsgroup is a good place to go with Java questions and has many very
helpful and knowledgeable people on it.

I could go on but that's a start.

--
Rhino

Some people have a knack for programming. Some will never be able to
do it. It requires extreme attention to detail.

So for some it is fun, others impossible.

If you have abundant curiosity and lots of patience it will do you
well.

To learn to write well, post your code.  Let others critique it.  If
you have a thick skin, you will learn quickly.  Look at the code
written by Sun and other acknowledged good coders. Copy their style.

Learning to program in any language should be challenging.   Depending on
your drive/interest/determination that challenging aspect can either be
engaging or frustrating.

Now depending on what you are trying to do, Java can be a lot easier than
some other language.  For instance if you want to display a picture and then
have a yes no box with a question, this would be MUCH MUCH easier to do in
Java than say . . assembler.   (You may find this true of most abstract
programming tasks.)

As for how to write a good one.  You just need a lot of practice - and don't
be afraid to rewrite something (from scratch) if you feel you may have "done
it the wrong way".

--
LTP

answers
1. yep - of course its hard - that's why we make the big bucks.
2. one line at a time - and practice, practice, practice.

As soon as you've learned the basics of Java, get a copy of "Effective
Java" so you learn to do things correctly. And if you are serious about
learning how develop software, you shouldn't concentrate too much on
the programming language (that is the easy part). Instead you should
learn about object oriented programming, design patterns, extreme
programming, refactoring etc. But even if you know all the theory you
will make lots of mistakes in your first projects. So, learn from them.

/JN