Java Beginner

Hi,

I am a senior vb.net and C# programmer.I use visual studio 2008. I want now to develop in java language. what is the best way to start programming in java? can i program in java using visual studio?

Your help is highly appreciated

I doubt it.. A while back Microsoft got sued for trying to copy Java through J# and lost.. so they pursued the path of .net framework and C#.

If you want a good IDE for java, look into Eclipse or Netbeans. Both are free, and from what I've heard about Netbeans, on fairly equal footing (personally, I like Eclipse). Java programming follows a lot of the same syntax of C/C++ type languages (I think C# also has similar syntax as C/C++). To learn Java with your kind of background, I'd go through the Java keywords and how they compare to the keywords you know. Sun has some beginner to advanced tutorials on their website that may be helpful to you.

And of course, practice and asking questions will do you the most good in learning anything :)

From what I have seen, then Java and C# is all but totally identical syntax wise. They run on the same level of abstraction, are both object oriented and both run in virtual machines.

Where you might encounter problems are certain functionality in visual studio, that is not implemented in any java IDE. We do however have Eclipse and Netbeans which are both excellent IDE's.
Also, java does not work quite as "well" with the OS as C# (being multiplatform and all). This makes it a little harder to do gui's, and makes the bridge from the vm to system a difficult to cross, cant go directly in java, as you can in C# for example.

If I where you, I would just leap right into it, get eclipse and start programming something (without a gui), and then google when you have a question. I think find that a lot of things works pretty much the same as C#.

Ninja edit: I doubt Visual Studio will work with java, as java is the two things ms hates most about the world (more popular than their own product, and multiplatform). // Im ranting sorry

Thanks everyone, I have already installed NetBeans and I am discovering it. But it seems that you prefer Eclipse, so I will try to download it. Thanks again guys.