The Java Jungle

Compilation of java study guides, challenges, and sample code

Core Skills List With Exercises

The following items represent a core set of java skills for an introductory course. Tackle the problems under each area for practice!

  1. Essential syntax; primitive variables
  2. Essential operators: + - * / % = == <= <= !=
  3. Calling methods on existing objects
  4. Writing simple methods and calling them
  5. Writing classes with class member variables and methods
  6. Creating and storing objects: constructors and 'new'
  7. Work through this fantastic object creation in-code practice set

  8. Scope: member and local variables
  9. Static versus instance variables and methods
  10. Gathering user input and using the data
  11. Overview of user input principles

  12. Basic conditional statements - if() and switch()
  13. Using classes in the java language library through the Java API
  14. Looping blocks: for() and while()
  15. Arrays: creation and manipulation
  16. Tackle this array practice in-code exercise set

    Arrays can hold objects, too. Practice with guided coding problems here

  17. Implementing and designing basic algorithms
  18. Algorithm practice concepts and challenges

Other practice

Don't forget that checkpoint 2 tasks are great practice on arrays, looping, conditionals, and user input:


These are "extra" topics that are basically part of a core understanding of Java but rely on mastery of the above skills to successfuly implement.

  1. Data Structures: stacks, queues, and maps
  2. Writing and reading files
  3. Approaches to sorting and searching