My excitment over Java waned a bit after having my butt kicked by all the syntax differences. What comes natural to me in PHP takes a bit of fiddling in Java not knowing all the “right” ways to do things. Digging through Java documentation is slightly useless for me at this point since I am still trying to get used to how everything works and fits together.
Since this is as close to formal programming training as I’ll get, I found some of the brain teaser questions on some homework problems more challenging to figure out since I am really not a “left brain” kind of guy (which is why I have two art degrees in the first place). When it comes to slightly complicated if/else statements or for, sometimes my brain just locks up, and I get “writer’s block” for coders… The assignment on writing a “Bubble Sort” messed me up quite a bit before I could immerse myself in how it should be coded… I think Alex got annoyed a few times after the 100th time I asked him how something trivial works in Java… But really, my brain completely went on a strike…
I still got one last problem on writing a “Magic Square” class on the assignment… Hopefully I can complete that in time for class on Tuesday.