null Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 I'm wanting to enroll in a java class at my college (an elective). The course currently uses a java book that is maybe 2 years old, and the course includes AWT and maybe some other "old" stuff. I have spoken with the instructor and he says that the course is being "re-done" to go along with the newer textbooks, and the "new" course should be ready after the beginning of the year. I wanted to enroll in the course awhile back, but I chose to wait since I did not want to learn "old stuff". For example, one of my java books says that it no longers covers AWT since that is "old", and it covers swing instead. So, should I have waited, or is it really no big deal...? I am a total java beginner (even an oop beginner). I just didn't want to learn "old" stuff. Why should I waste my time learning how java "used to be"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylizard Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Not really sure what you mean by old stuff? If you are talking about AWT versus Swing, then perhaps, however, Swing is built on top of AWT and so, therefore, learning AWT will only help you in designing Swing programs. However, if you are a total java and OOp newbie, then as long as the course teaches the fundamentals of java and object-oriented design and programming it will be worth taking. If it is a complete beginner course, then it may not include that much swing and gui design anyway. I say take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null Posted October 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 thanks fuzzylizard. That's what I was wondering about. When talking to the instructor (actually by email) he suggested not waiting, since he thought it didn't really matter. He said the course assumes some C++ knowledge, but that any programming experience was helpful. I don't know if the course will teach much in the way of fundamentals of oop. Based on your comments, I'm gonna go ahead and enroll in it. He wasn't sure when he "new" updated course would be ready anyway. He said the course would be writing applets and stuff. I was just using AWT / Swing as an example. I didn't know if they were kind of related or completely different. If learning AWT would not help me in any way, I would not want to waste time learning it. But if it would be helpful to know AWT, I don't mind learning it. Its just that if modern Java apps use swing for gui stuff, I didn't know if I wanted to learn gui stuff using awt.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzylizard Posted October 27, 2003 Report Share Posted October 27, 2003 Since java support varies from browser to browser, learning awt is a very helpful thing. Swing is not supported by all browsers, therefore, if you want to make cross browser applets, learn awt. Almost everything you learn in awt is transferable to swing -- i.e. in awt you have a Button class, in swing a JButton class, in awt a Panel class, in swing a JPanel class, and so on. Swing is simply an extension to awt. Just swing is better for application building and is, therefore, taught instead of awt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 I agree with FuzzyLizard. It's worth taking a cours ewith AWT as it will prepare you to learn swing which is much more complex. Plus, IMHO, Java is more suited to a server environment anyway - so GUI is not so important Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.