Pre-bootcamp Learner Introduction

This section is designed to teach you the basic of Java programming. You should be able to follow it even if you’ve done little or no programming before. The goal is to get to the point where you can attend the Bootcamp training course, and start to understand and write real code.

If you do have some prior programming experience, read on – there are some bits you can skip over, but don’t move too fast as there could be something you’re not so familiar with that’s worth revising!

Learning goals

The objective of this section is to be able to understand and use the following Java programming concepts:

  • Building a simple console application
  • Variables and control flow (if, for, while etc.)
  • Number and string data types
  • Object oriented programming basics
  • Using collections
  • Input and output
  • Exception handling
  • Packages and packaging

These topics will be addressed by way of official Java tutorials.

You’ll also learn the very basics of the Git version control system, and how to put the code you’ve written on GitHub.

Setup

Development tools

Before beginning this preparation you will need a development machine with the following already installed – this information has been provided to your employer as technical prerequisites.

Note that the course assumes that you will be using Visual Studio Code as your IDE, which is a more lightweight set of tools than Eclipse or another IDE that you might use with your work.

Git setup

Before beginning Bootcamp, you will need to be able to upload your exercise solutions to GitHub so that your trainer can see them. To do this, you’ll need the following.

  • A GitHub account
  • A Git client application installed on your machine, such as Git Bash or GitKraken

If you do not already have a GitHub account, go to GitHub and “Sign Up” for one (it’s free). It’s fine to use an existing account if you have one.

If you have never used Git before, follow GitHub’s short tutorial just to get used to the basics. You can skip over “pull requests” for now if you wish – you won’t need them until you start collaborating with other team members.

Then create a Personal Access Token (PAT) on GitHub by following this tutorial. Choose “classic” rather than “fine-grained”. Name your token something like “Java training”, give it an expiry time of at least 6 weeks and ensure it has the repo scope. Make sure to copy the token because you’ll need it to connect to GitHub in a moment.

To check that your Git installation is working properly, create a folder in which you’ll store the code you’ll write for this course (e.g., C:\Work\Training). Then in your Git client run a version of the following command:

git clone https://git@github.com:YourName/YourProject.git

You’ll need to replace YourName by your GitHub account name, and YourProject by the name of one of your GitHub repositories (you should have at least one if you’ve followed the tutorial on GitHub). The easiest way to get a url for the git clone command is to navigate to your project in GitHub and find the green “Code” button. Click this and you should get a “Clone with HTTPS” box containing the correct URL to copy and use.

Once you run the git clone command above, you should be prompted for your GitHub login details. Instead of your password, use the PAT you created earlier.

You should find that your project is now downloaded locally into a new folder inside C:/Work/Training. We’ll explore more about how to work with Git as we progress through the course.

If you have any trouble getting the above to work, get in touch with your trainer who should be able to give you some pointers to get moving.

Pre-bootcamp content structure

This pre-bootcamp section is built relevant sections of the official Java Tutorials. This is available in different formats:

Java versions

Note that both of these versions were written for Java SE 8, whereas you will be using the more modern Java 17. Unfortunately a newer official tutorial set has not been produced. The content is still appropriate – during this time we will be focusing on the language fundamentals, which have not changed.

Don’t just sit down and read the book cover-to-cover. You’ll probably get bored! Instead, work through the topics in this course and we will:

  • Suggest appropriate sections to read
  • Provide some exercises that you should use to practice what you learn

By the end of this section you should have all the basics you need to start writing your own Java code. But don’t panic if it doesn’t all make sense – help is on hand if you get stuck, and once you’ve learnt the basic syntax then during Bootcamp we’ll demystify any remaining puzzles and take your programming to the next level.

If you do already have prior experience you’re welcome to skim over any of the reading material that you’re already confident in. But make sure you’re proud of the code you’re writing, and if you’re not completely confident then re-read the material even if it’s largely familiar.